Planning & Transportation

Tomorrow September 22, 2007, around 10:10 A.M., Amtrak's Train number 80, the Carolinian, will run through Hillsborough. The train won't stop, but Orange County residents will be there encouraging local and state governments to add an Amtrak stop in Hillsborough in celebration of international Car Free Day.

Members of The Village Project and the Walkable Hillsborough Coalition will hold an event beginning around 9:50 A.M. on Saturday the 22nd to highlight the need for Amtrak service for Hillsborough and Orange County. The event will be held at the corner of Eno and South Nash Streets in Hillsborough, in view of the railroad tracks (opposite the former Flynt Mill). A rail stop in Hillsborough would help reduce traffic, global warming, and air pollution as well as provide County residents with more mobility options for work-related and recreational travel.

Biking here is pretty good, but far from perfect. If I was still in Durham, I'd bitch'n'moan (and occasionally engage in more constructive communication :-) about things on durhambikeandped.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/durhambikeandped/

... but I'm not. Is there equivalent online community(s) for Orange County or its metropoli? One alternative is rtp_bike_ped, but that's overbroad, and its discussions tend to center on the Park itself. (Plus in past its moderator has, been too strict WRT decorum, but that's just My Humble Opinion. One prefers a place where a spade need not be called a fine earth-moving implement. :-) )

I would like everyone to know that there will be a community open house on Tuesday, August 28th, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at the Library. We will present a draft of the Northern Area Task Force report for your feedback and comment.

This was an amazing accomplishment, considering the small amount of time that we had to work. Those of you who were on the Horace Williams Citizens Committee will appreciate what I am talking about because we HWCC members worked hard for 2 years in order to produce our report. Because of the time limit imposed by the moratorium, the Northern Area Task Force and Town staff only had time to meet 7 times over 3 months and participate in 2 workshops with planning consultants.

Our charge was to prepare recommendations for the Council for the implementation of transit oriented development. We have recommendations and guidelines for over 350 acres of land along Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Northwest Chapel Hill. Not only are we the gateway entrance from the north, we will be the northern neighbor to Carolina North.

Please come and weigh in on plans for our future.