On August 20th, 2020 around 12:20 PM a passionate outdoors person and regular user of the Greenways, Chip Depew, was assaulted on the Walnut Creek Greenway at the entrance of the South Saunders tunnel while riding his bike. He died of his injuries in the hospital shortly after. Oaks & Spokes and the community are deeply saddened by this loss. We have the Depew family in our thoughts and hearts.
On 8/29 members of Oaks & Spokes and the cycling community at large held a memorial ride with the Depew family in attendance. Approximately 130 people attended in memory of Chip and in support of the Depew family. We couldn’t be more proud to be part of such a caring community. We would like to thank the volunteers and RPD who helped keep the riders safe during the memorial service. We want to also thank the Depew family for allowing the community to honor Chip on this day.
Please consider visiting Chip’s memorial page and donating so we can make our Greenways safer.
Chip rode the same route on this section of the Greenway on a regular basis for years. He became comfortable and felt safe enough that he would grab only his phone and go about his day as if it was like any other day.
Like Chip, hundreds of people use the Greenways every day for a walk, run or ride and don’t think twice about the potential danger created by the amount of seclusion that is common on these trails. This level of comfort means people often leave home with only their phone, water and the occasional fitness tracker, they don’t think about letting friends know where they are going or sharing their location with a close friend or relative. The assault exposes the dangers that are inherent in Greenway designs that exist in cities all across this country. It’s past time we address them.
We want to call attention to this tragedy and state that the attack should have never happened and it could have been prevented with the proper safety measures currently nonexistent on most of the trails. We also want to call attention to the lack of engagement from the City of Raleigh and our elected officials on the assault. While there has been a generous amount of news coverage, it’s been radio silence from our city. This is unacceptable and we must demand they do better.
Oaks & Spokes is committed to making biking in Raleigh safe, convenient, and comfortable for people of all ages and abilities. This mission extends to our Greenway system and all its users. We will be engaging our community in the coming days with a campaign that demands the city expand safety on its trails with examples of what can be done to make trails safer and to discourage any future assaults and illegal activity. This is just the start of a bigger discussion and we need your support to drive successful change. Please subscribe to our newsletter if you haven’t already done so.
We’ve linked some of the news coverage below if you would like to get more information:
8/21: Victim of deadly Raleigh greenway assault recently became a grandfather, family says
8/24: Raleigh police sought funds for parks and greenways unit, but was rejected
8/29: Memorial bike ride held for Raleigh grandfather who died after greenway attack