Planning & Transportation
Guest Post by Joe Baysdon
Chapel Hill, brace yourself for a more than 275% increase in traffic to and from northern Chatham County. Our County Commissioners have opened the floodgates to developers, and within the next ten years, you folks using 15-501 in southern Orange County will share our pain.
The Briar Chapel development, proposed to be built just west of 15-501, 5 miles south of the county line, will be responsible for 55% of that increased traffic. Furthermore, after looking over Newland's (the developer's) traffic projections and speaking with Robert Eby of CCEC, I believe a 275% estimated increase is too low. That's because northern Chatham has several more developments awaiting approval which are not accounted for in Newland's projections. These developments include Booth Mountain and Pittsboro Station. Also, the Obey's Creek development has been proposed in Orange County.
Are we ready? As a lover of urban spaces, I must say I am pretty excited about the proposals brewing for downtown Chapel Hill and Carrboro. (I have linked to respective towns' websites who have pretty good information, and maps!)
Guest Post by Patrick McDonough
On September 22, 2004, Orange County residents will join millions of others around the globe and celebrate World Car Free Day by leaving their cars at home.
Orange County residents who make a pledge to go Car Free for the day or go “Car Lite,†and reduce their number of drive-alone automobile trips will be entered in a drawing for prizes. Pledge forms can be picked up at Weaver Street Market, Whole Foods Market, Chapel Hill Town Hall, or Carrboro Town Hall. People can also pledge online at www.gocarfree.com . The EPA estimates that if 10 cars are taken off the road for only one day, 314 pounds of carbon dioxide are removed from the atmosphere.
The goal of Car Free Day is to have fun while reducing the overall use of cars in the community, and raising awareness of the social, environmental, and public health benefits of communities that are not dependent upon the automobile.
Tonight's Carrboro Board of Aldermen meeting was mostly dedicated to considering a possible annexation of the various neighborhoods along the west side of Rogers Road, including the Highlands, Fox Meadow, Fox Run and other 1980's and 1990's subdivisions. The proposed annexation area also includes about half of the lots that actually front on Rogers Road - these lots are part of a neighborhood that was largely built in the 1950's and is simply known as the Rogers Road neighborhood.
I proposed that we take annexation of the Rogers Road neighborhood off the table because the neighborhood asked Chapel Hill and Carrboro to consider relocating the two Towns' annexation boundary line so that we would not end up with half the neighborhood in Carrboro and half in Chapel Hill. We held those discussions about 8 years ago in connection with compensating Rogers Road area residents for the impact of the landfill (which was built after the Rogers Road neighborhood was already there; Highlands etc. were all built after the landfill).
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