Given that development plans have slowed, one of the more immediate remaining questions about Carolina North is how people will get there. The Town of Chapel Hill has been studying the issue of how to best move pedestrians and bicycles, especially. They held several public meetings, and this week they released a recommendation. I'm very happy to see the town staff favored Route A, which uses Cameron Avenue, the Libba Cotton bike path, and the right of way around the rail line as it goes north from Carrboro to the Horace Williams tract. (See map below.)
On Saturday March 27 at noon at Caribou Coffee downtown Chapel Hill, the Campus to Campus Bike Connector group will lead a walk of a potential bike route to connect UNC campus with Carolina North. For more information, see http://ccbconnector.wordpress.com
Please note that there is a walk of the middle route(connection through Northsdie) planned for this Saturday, March 27. All folks interested in walking the route with CCBC and gaining insight on route conditions are welcome.
Meet us at NOON (12pm)at Caribou Coffee on Franklin (near Columbia)...or as the old-timers know it, Hagen-Daaz/He's Not Here courtyard across from the Baptist Church downtown.
This meeting will be an opportunity to show the data, photographs and information collected on the routes that were suggested at our December 1, 2009 workshop. The materials from that meeting are on the website.
We are evaluating potential locations for a greenway and bike path connection between the Carolina North campus and the Main UNC Campus. We are seeking a pathway that is not located within the Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. roadway and that avoids steep grades where feasible. It may include existing or planned greenways for a portion of the route.
There will be a brief introduction by Town and University staff to share the data collected to date.
The majority of the workshop will be spent in an open session, getting feedback from the attendees.
You are welcome to use the maps & checklists we used and to bring your own photographs and information to the session. We want to hear what you think!
If you have a question for the Town, call The Town of Chapel Hill Planning Department at: (919) 968-2728
If you have a question for the University, contact Jill Coleman at [email protected]
You may also send comments to
Check the
Date:
Thursday, April 15, 2010 - 1:30pm
Location:
Magnolia Conference Room, 103 Airport Drive, Chapel Hill
A few years ago, the voters of Carrboro approved a couple million dollar bond issue to build sidewalks in various locations around Carrboro. One of the projects on the list was a sidewalk on the south side of Estes Drive Extension from the railroad tracks to North Greensboro Street. But the sidewalk bond money has not gone as far as people had hoped. Considerably higher engineering, materials, labor, drainage and utility-relocation costs have cropped up and we will not be able to build the entire original list of sidewalks with the bond money. Also, in the intervening years, the Town annexed neighborhoods on the west side of Rogers Road and it became apparent that Rogers Road was a place that needed a sidewalk, but had not been on the list before because it was not within town limits.
We need YOUR input! Orange County is working with the NC Department of
Transportation, the Triangle Area Rural Planning Organization, the
Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the
Orange Unified Transportation Board to create a Comprehensive
Transportation Plan (CTP) for the County. It will recommend
improvements for highways, public transportation, and bicycle and
pedestrian facilities over the next 25 to 30 years. Although the CTP
does not schedule or fund improvements, it is an essential tool in
guiding the safe and effective use of the County's transportation
system. The purpose of this survey is to obtain your opinions and
identify transportation issues that are important to the citizens,
businesses, and officials of Orange County.
Rob Methorst to present "Quality for Pedestrians: Pitfalls in Policy Making"
CHAPEL HILL – Rob Methorst, a senior advisor with the Dutch Ministry of
Transport, will present a lecture titled "Quality for Pedestrians:
Pitfalls in Policy Making " on Friday, March 20 at 1:00 pm in the
Tate-Turner-Kuralt auditorium on the campus of the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The free, public lecture is being cosponsored by the UNC Highway Safety
Research Center, the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center, the
Carolina Transportation Program and the Department of City and Regional
Planning.
Methorst will discuss his international perspective on the ingredients
needed for successful policy making to improve conditions for
pedestrians.
For years now I've used the informal trails linking my neighborhood around Lloyd Street/Broad Street near downtown Carrboro, Northside, Bolin Creek, and the rest of Carrboro to navigate as a pedestrian and a biker. Every time I
cross the ditch on an old railroad tie and then straddle the railroad
tracks to get to Harris Teeter or the Pleasant Street neighborhood, I
marvel at the fact that the geographic center of Carrboro/Chapel Hill
is still so isolated from the surrounding neighborhoods. At night as I
see folks wandering through the informal dirt paths that connect
Pleasant Street to Lloyd Street, I worry about the safety of the dark
trail and wish that there was a way to put some resources into making
these vital links for those of us who can't or choose not to drive much more user friendly and safe.
As noted on the Endangered Pedestrians thread, Chapel Hill is testing an "exclusive pedestrian" traffic signal phase at the Columbia (NC 86) & Cameron intersection, a configuration of traffic signals and pedestrian "walk" displays that will allow those on foot to cross in all directions at once, including diagonally across the street. This video (also below) demonstrates such a crossing in Los Angeles.
Police statement published today by the Carrboro Citizen:
On Thursday, December 11th, the Chapel Hill Police responded to a
traffic crash on N.C. 54 west of the South Columbia Street Bridge.
Seven pedestrians were reportedly crossing the roadway at approximately
10:30 PM. Four of the pedestrians had made it to the median and three
were struck by an eastbound vehicle. One person, a female, was
pronounced dead at the scene and two others were transported to UNC
Hospital for treatment of their non-life threatening injuries.
I just got the following notice from the Chapel Hill Town Manager's offce:
We are saddened by the tragic accident of Valerie Hughes, who died on Oct. 28 after being struck by a bus while crossing a street in Chapel Hill. We wish to express our deepest sympathy to her family and to her friends.
The driver of the Chapel Hill Transit bus involved in the accident, James Orr, was placed on administrative leave without pay immediately. The Town of Chapel Hill conducted an internal investigation consistent with Town policy and statutory guidelines.
Effective November 3, 2008, James Orr, Transit Operator II was terminated as an employee of the Town of Chapel Hill.
The Town Council has expressed an ongoing concern with pedestrian safety, and this unfortunate accident highlights our need to continue and improve upon that effort.
For years now I've used the informal trails linking my neighborhood around Lloyd Street/Broad Street near downtown Carrboro, Northside, Bolin Creek, and the rest of Carrboro to navigate as a pedestrian and a biker. Every time I
cross the ditch on an old railroad tie and then straddle the railroad
tracks to get to Harris Teeter or the Pleasant Street neighborhood, I
marvel at the fact that the geographic center of Carrboro/Chapel Hill
is still so isolated from the surrounding neighborhoods. At night as I
see folks wandering through the informal dirt paths that connect
Pleasant Street to Lloyd Street, I worry about the safety of the dark
trail and wish that there was a way to put some resources into making
these vital links for those of us who can't or choose not to drive much more user friendly and safe. 