The Bolin Creek Trail will soon be the home of two new murals, as work recently began on public art in the tunnel entries where Bolin Creek Trail passes under Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

The Town of Chapel Hill’s Community Arts & Culture Division commissioned Raleigh-based muralist J Massullo – who has created numerous murals in the Triangle, including work at Duke University – to paint the art in his traditional graffiti spray-painting style. The Bolin Creek Trail murals will highlight stylized flora and fauna, and their creation will begin this weekend as Masullo uses a lift to access parts of the tunnel.

Work began this past weekend and over subsequent weeks, community members can expect some equipment on site and a trail detour. The town said a virtual celebration is scheduled for when the art is completed in June.

The Bolin Creek Trail’s detour during art installation will guide trail users to the crosswalk at Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and Umstead Drive, and then access Bolinwood Drive and Hillsborough Street to safely detour the worksite.

The murals are found on a new portion of the trail which, when completed, will allow pedestrian and bicycle travel from the Chapel Hill Community Center on S. Estes Drive to Umstead Park, and on to the Northside neighborhood and Downtown Chapel Hill via the recently-improved Tanyard Branch Trail.

The trail was also closed in April as construction crews worked to remove coal ash deposits still near the site.

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