• Destruction of the forest landscape
• site is part of Duke Forest 
• steep slopes will require substantial regrading
• multiple agencies view site as ecologically important
  
• Negative impact on water quality
• school construction and impervious surfaces will increase flooding and pollution into Mud Creek, New Hope Creek, and Jordan Lake
  
• broad floodplain and wet areas not suitable for playing fields
• water will continue to flow to low-lying areas
  
• Failing traffic conditions
• Erwin Rd. is a main commuter route
• City/County planners and DOT already concerned about volume of traffic on Erwin and Cornwallis Roads
• Roads have low visibility and are dangerous
  
• Massive development costs
• total re-engineering and re-grading of site to flatten and fill steep slopes; retaining walls
• water management structures to address flooding and run-off
• miles of road alterations on Erwin and Cornwallis Roads
• land acquisition for road alterations
  
• Inconsistent with Durham planning guidelines that say
• schools should not be built in low density, low growth areas
• schools should be built with other community facilities like libraries and parks
  
• site should remain in natural state and not for active uses
• Old cemetery on site

A high school built on this parcel of land will increase flooding and pollution not just in Mud Creek but all the way to Jordan Lake.  

Much of this site is covered in a broad floodplain for Mud Creek, which feeds into New Hope Creek and then into Jordan Lake.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars in state Clean Water Fund grants have been spent nearby due to the recognized importance of protecting the upper New Hope Creek tributaries.  Jordan Lake, a source of drinking water for many cities in the area, has been on the Federal List of Impaired Waters since 2002.

A large portion of this site often is very wet.  Not shown on the map is a large portion of the site adjacent to Mud Creek that is permanently flooded because of beaver activity.  The original school site plan (above) indicates practice fields encroaching on these areas.  

Much of the site sits below road grade with streams that run under Erwin Road and along the length of the site.  Water will continue to flow to this low-lying area regardless of grading efforts on the site.  Impervious surfaces, such as school buildings and parking lots, will increase the risk of flooding and pollution entering the waterway.  Massive re-grading of the site also will increase pollution in Mud Creek and then into New Hope Creek and eventually Jordan Lake.

Traffic volume at the intersection of Erwin and Cornwallis Roads already is of concern to the Durham City/County traffic planners and DOT because of high traffic volume. 

 Two-lane Erwin Road is one of the main commuter routes between Durham and Chapel Hill.  Traffic engineers have described the portion of Erwin Rd. between Cornwallis Rd. and the traffic circle at 751 as “F” (Failing) for the morning commute.  The current grade at the Erwin-Cornwallis intersection is a “D”.  The traffic circle at 751 and Erwin Road already is at 87% capacity.

 If traffic already receives a failing grade along this corridor, imagine the impact of an additional 1,400 students at this intersection (an estimated 500 vehicles parking on campus plus buses, drop-offs and secondary trips).  Road alterations may require additional land acquisition and would significantly alter the character of the area.  Entrances and exits to the proposed school site would be along high speed roads with limited visibility that would endanger student drivers.  Neither public transportation, walking, nor bicycling are current options for students at this site.

 Understanding that any new high school location would bring additional traffic, it would be better to locate a school away from a rural road that is a main commuter route.  Students would be better served on safer streets and in a location accessible to foot and bicycle traffic as well as public transportation.

Development of a high school on this site would be inefficient and wasteful.  Excessive costs made through poor planning decisions will be passed on to the residents of Durham.

 This site would be extraordinarily expensive to develop, both on the site itself and along the surrounding roads.  The steep, often wet site would require total re-engineering and re-grading of the landscape as well as pump basins and other water management controls to address long-term flooding and water quality issues. 

 Adding high school student traffic on top of already failing commuter traffic conditions would require extensive road alterations.  These alterations and corresponding property acquisition would be needed along several miles of Erwin and Cornwallis Roads from 751 and 15-501 to the proposed site.  Road alterations in this area would be complicated (and therefore costlier) by improvements needed to bridges, steep ravines on either side of the roadways, and possible straightening of blind hills and curves where students would be entering and exiting the proposed school.

Placing a school at this site is in direct opposition to local planning documents agreed upon by the City and County of Durham.

"This portion of Erwin Road [between Weaver Dairy Rd. and 751], the western boundary of much of the corridor, is used and increasingly will be used as an alternate route to the Chapel Hill-Durham Boulevard.  Although such alternate use probably cannot be prevented, any temptation to make it easier to use this portion of Erwin Road as an alternate route should be resisted.  Specifically, the road should not be widened along this area.  Making it a high capacity, two-lane road would do great damage to its lovely, rural character, which makes it a significant asset to the corridor and the whole urban area." -- New Hope Corridor Open Space Master Plan, p. 10