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10-10 Orange County Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan CHAPTER 10 - Goals, Objectives, and Recommendations 10 Recommendation #6: Build More Trails, and Connect Open Spaces As noted above, based on the results of the Community Needs Assessment surveys, Orange County residents want to get out into nature and walk, hike and bike more. Creatfng more trails will happen through several different methods:  Building the future parks and future phases of existfng parks, which will add significant trail loops and corridors (an estfmated 10 miles of additfonal trails).  Complete the Mountains-to-Sea Trail through Orange County, which will add another approximately 30 miles of trail.  Create public access areas within the nature preserves described above.  Look for opportunitfes to connect existfng trails, such as connectfng the trails in Duke Forest to those in Eno River State Park, connectfng town greenways to county trails, and working with private developers as part of new developments. These same methods and actfvitfes will also provide for connectfvity. The Mountains-to-Sea Trail, for example, will link OWASA Cane Creek lands to the County’s Upper Eno Preserve to Eno River State Park and the Hillsborough Riverwalk. The Hollow Rock Access Area will connect the New Hope Preserve to the Duke Forest trail network and to a series of trails extending south to Jordan Lake. Other efforts on short segments may be undertaken to connect the Town of Chapel Hill and Town of Carrboro greenways to Duke Forest and the New Hope trail network. As with joint capital funding for parks, the different potentfal partners (local governments and quasi-public entftfes, instftutfons, trail organizatfons) that would benefit from enhanced trails should look at potentfal joint funding mechanisms for trails that cross jurisdictfonal boundaries to help “share the cost.” Recommendation #7: Work to Improve Access to Parks and Trails and Incorporate Healthy Lifestyles Design As noted in Chapter 9, there is a strong relatfonship between parks, recreatfon programs and public health. Where residents live in proximity to parks and trails, personal health is improved. Transporta- tfon and income play a key role in access and thus, in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. For some residents, the ability to drive to a park or trail, or to pay for access to a program or a swimming pool is a great challenge. In the 2011 Community Health Assess- ment, 75% of respondents identffied an apparent lack of access to parks and recreatfonal opportunitfes as a problem in Orange County. This is a challenge easily addressed in urban areas where public transportatfon is more readily available, and where populatfon densitfes create a market for parks within walking and biking distance. Orange County’s rural areas, however, are projected to remain rural into the long-term future, with the bulk of future residentfal development to occur in the towns and in “transitfon areas” with urban infrastructure near the main east-west roadways. There are two things the County could do to improve access to parks, nature preserves and trails for all residents. The County, working in conjunctfon with other transportatfon providers, could work to improve public transportatfon along major roadway corridors in the rural parts of the county, with stops at current and future parks. Secondly, the County could incorporate (more formally) healthy lifestyle facility design into its park design process. Design of parks that include facilitfes that promote fitness already occurs on an ad hoc basis, but with emerging standards and early design interventfon, more- productfve facility design could be achieved by look- ing at public health facility design components as a regular, intrinsic part of the overall master planning process. 118