The South Ellerbe Creek Stormwater Restoration project responds to the Falls Lake and Jordan Lake Nutrient Management Strategies to provide water quality regulations for runoff from both the Trinity Basin and the Downtown Basin. The constructed wetland will help the City of Durham meet their nutrient removal target. The City of Durham’s goal is to combine stormwater management with public amenities, using the project as a way to educate the public on stormwater management and wetland ecology. The public facilitation process allowed the design team to receive feedback from stakeholders about what amenities and features they’d like to see on the site.
Surface 678 is providing amenity design, including the redesign of the Trinity Avenue streetscape with a protected bicycle lane, a plaza on the corner of Trinity Avenue and Duke Street with a bioretention garden and a shade structure, and interpretive educational signage about the wetland function and wetland ecology. We are also providing a perimeter half-mile loop trail that will connect to the existing Ellerbe Trail. An overlook from the future Durham Beltline, running on the edge of the project site, will provide scenic views of the constructed wetland. Bridges and boardwalks will provide walkways across the wetland, which will feature piedmont native wetland plants.
