At long last, the Rogers Road neighborhood is finally getting a sewer line.

Construction begins this summer, but there will be a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday at 5:30 pm at the RENA Community Center on Edgar Street. Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange County, and OWASA are co-hosting the ceremony along with the Rogers Eubanks Neighborhood Association; everyone’s invited.

View plans for the new sewer line here.

New sewer lines don’t usually make headlines, but this one’s different: it represents the culmination of a struggle that goes back decades.

In the early 1970s, Orange County built a landfill just down the road from the historically black neighborhood. By most accounts, officials promised significant infrastructural upgrades for the community in exchange for housing the landfill nearby. But those upgrades never got made – and the landfill stayed open far longer than originally intended, creating a significant nuisance for the neighborhood.

Scholars at Duke University have compiled a page chronicling the landfill fight. Read the whole story here.

Residents organized in response, pushing for years to close the landfill and upgrade the community – and after years of advocacy, officials finally began to respond. The landfill closed in 2013, a new community center opened in 2014, and the new sewer line will continue those improvements.

See more on the Historic Rogers Road community from the Town of Chapel Hill.

Construction on the new line begins in July; it will take 10-12 months to complete.

WCHL’s Aaron Keck spoke with Rev. Robert Campbell, president of the Rogers Eubanks Neighborhood Association.

 

For more information on the Rogers Road neighborhood, visit RENACommunityCenter.com.

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