Estes Drive
Created by the central west steering committee and adopted in November of last year by the town council, the plan deals with the MLK-Estes intersection and surrounding areas in anticipation of upcoming changes, including the eventual development of Carolina North and the potential end of the airport hazard zone. Having attended some of the meetings and being connected to the area I appreciate the work that was done by the steering committee on this project.
As of now the plan can be seen on the town website in the 2020 section.
On Wednesday, September 19th, the community will be gathering to
discuss the Steering Committee structure, purpose, and application
process for the MLK/Estes Drive Focus Area (recommended name: Central
West Focus Area). This meeting will be held from 5:00-6:30pm in the HR
Training Room, second floor, Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr.
Blvd., Chapel Hill.
In order to prepare for Wednesday’s meeting, a survey has been
developed with the purpose of collecting information in advance of the
meeting. Please complete this survey and provide us with your thoughts!
The survey can be found at the following link: Steering Committee Survey
The information from this survey will be compiled and will be a part
of the discussion during the Wednesday, September 19th Recommendation
Meeting #2.
Please complete the survey by noon on Wednesday, September 19th. The
responses from the survey will be published on this blog by Friday,
September 21st.
For more information about this process, please visit www.townofchapelhill.org/estesdrive
Date:
Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - 5:00pm to 6:30pm
Location:
HR Training Room, second floor, Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill
Do you live or work in the Estes Drive area? Do you have ideas about how the area could be improved or enhanced?
The Town of Chapel Hill will hold a Public Information Open House
for the Estes Drive Focus Area from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28, at the
Orange United Methodist Church, 1220 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.,
Chapel Hill, NC 27514. An identical meeting (choose the one that works
best for you) will be held from 8 to 9 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 29, at the
same location.
The purpose of the Public Information Open House is to create a
common community baseline of knowledge about the Estes Drive Focus Area.
After the Open House, additional community meetings
will be held to gather community input about the area and appropriate
uses for the area.
All community members are invited to help develop the process for
gathering community input and the process' next steps. If you are
interested in participating, contact Megan Wooley, a housing and
neighborhood services planner, at [email protected] or 919-968-2728.
Background
During the development of the Chapel Hill 2020 comprehensive plan,
the community participated in focused discussions about six areas
of Town which were referred to as the "Future Focus Discussion Areas."
These areas were identified as the areas most likely to change in the
future due to vacant land, underdeveloped sites, and their location
along transportation and transit corridors.
One area that was identified as a Future Focus Discussion Area was
the area located near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr.
Boulevard and Estes Drive. As a first priority for implementation of the
Chapel Hill 2020 comprehensive plan, the community and Town staff will
work together to create process that will work towards the goal of
identifying appropriate uses and zoning regulations in and near Estes
Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Currently, the process is being called the "Estes Drive Focus Area"
process. The community will have the opportunity to discuss and refine
this
name, as well as the boundary for the focus area, during the Public
Information Open House and additional community meetings.
As a general guide, the area includes the Estes Drive/Martin Luther
King Jr. Boulevard intersection and generally includes the area
extending just north of Piney Mountain Road, south to the YMCA area, and
along Estes Drive to Seawell School Road and towards the Chapel Hill
Public Library on Library Drive. The community will have the opportunity
to discuss and refine the boundary for the focus area during the Public
Information Open House and during additional community meetings.
For more information including a Frequently Asked Questions list about the Estes Drive Focus Area, visit www.townofchapelhill.org/estesdrive
Interested in Chapel Hill zoning?
Keep an eye out for updates on the Ephesus Drive Focus Area Open House, tentatively scheduled for late September 2012.
Please let us know if you have any questions, ideas, or thoughts. We
would like to hear from you, and we welcome your feedback. Please also
let us know if you would like to be added to the email distribution list
for the Estes Drive Focus Area. Reach us by emailing [email protected] or calling 919-968-2728.
Date:
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 - 8:00am to 9:00am
Location:
Orange United Methodist Church, 1220 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Do you live or work in the Estes Drive area? Do you have ideas about how the area could be improved or enhanced?
The Town of Chapel Hill will hold a Public Information Open House
for the Estes Drive Focus Area from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28, at the
Orange United Methodist Church, 1220 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.,
Chapel Hill, NC 27514. An identical meeting (choose the one that works
best for you) will be held from 8 to 9 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 29, at the
same location.
The purpose of the Public Information Open House is to create a
common community baseline of knowledge about the Estes Drive Focus Area.
After the Open House, additional community meetings
will be held to gather community input about the area and appropriate
uses for the area.
All community members are invited to help develop the process for
gathering community input and the process' next steps. If you are
interested in participating, contact Megan Wooley, a housing and
neighborhood services planner, at [email protected] or 919-968-2728.
Background
During the development of the Chapel Hill 2020 comprehensive plan,
the community participated in focused discussions about six areas
of Town which were referred to as the "Future Focus Discussion Areas."
These areas were identified as the areas most likely to change in the
future due to vacant land, underdeveloped sites, and their location
along transportation and transit corridors.
One area that was identified as a Future Focus Discussion Area was
the area located near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr.
Boulevard and Estes Drive. As a first priority for implementation of the
Chapel Hill 2020 comprehensive plan, the community and Town staff will
work together to create process that will work towards the goal of
identifying appropriate uses and zoning regulations in and near Estes
Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Currently, the process is being called the "Estes Drive Focus Area"
process. The community will have the opportunity to discuss and refine
this
name, as well as the boundary for the focus area, during the Public
Information Open House and additional community meetings.
As a general guide, the area includes the Estes Drive/Martin Luther
King Jr. Boulevard intersection and generally includes the area
extending just north of Piney Mountain Road, south to the YMCA area, and
along Estes Drive to Seawell School Road and towards the Chapel Hill
Public Library on Library Drive. The community will have the opportunity
to discuss and refine the boundary for the focus area during the Public
Information Open House and during additional community meetings.
For more information including a Frequently Asked Questions list about the Estes Drive Focus Area, visit www.townofchapelhill.org/estesdrive
Interested in Chapel Hill zoning?
Keep an eye out for updates on the Ephesus Drive Focus Area Open House, tentatively scheduled for late September 2012.
Please let us know if you have any questions, ideas, or thoughts. We
would like to hear from you, and we welcome your feedback. Please also
let us know if you would like to be added to the email distribution list
for the Estes Drive Focus Area. Reach us by emailing [email protected] or calling 919-968-2728.
Date:
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Location:
Orange United Methodist Church, 1220 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Anyone who ever tries to get to and from businesses on the east side of Estes Dr. south of Franklin St. knows that it's a treacherous errand, no matter where you're coming from. I've become better than a FedEx driver when it comes to planning right-turn-only routes. While I'm sorry to see Walker's BP station go and have mixed feelings about the possibility of a Walgreens there (esp. since Kerr has left the mall), this does present an opportunity to think hard about the miserable traffic patterns in the area.
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.
I imagine many OP readers have heard about area residents who are concerned about the new fence blocking access between Estes Park Apartments in Carrboro and Village West Townhouses in Chapel Hill. The management of Estes Park erected a fence and gate which is padlocked. The fence is 8' tall with three strands of barbed wire at the top. It blocks a traditional connection between the two neighborhoods and by extension connections from each neighborhood to downtown Carrboro and Chapel Hill.
You may remember last fall when I moved about 1/2 a mile north from my old home downtown and suddenly found myself feeling like I was miles away from town. For the thousand or so people like me who live near Umstead Drive, Village Drive, and Estes Drive Extension, the only way to walk downtown involves a 2-mile hike up MLK Boulevard or a cut through the woods around Estes Park Apartments to Pleasant Drive in Carrboro.
Well, the Town of Chapel Hill was two steps ahead of me and was already planning an extension of the Bolin Creek Greenway that would connect Umstead Park and our neighborhood to Northside (which is just across the creek), the future Carolina North campus, and MLK Blvd. Importantly, this extension will also connect my old neighbors in Northside to University Mall (the Greenway's eastern terminus).
After the recent bunch of articles (Herald, N & O) about how crappy Estes Drive Extension is and how unlikely it is to get better any time soon, I'd like to make a modest proposal.
There are two other possible ways to get from the railroad crossing on Estes to downtown Carrboro. Both alternatives offer a way for cyclists, pedestrians, and wheelchairs to avoid the Straits of Estes. Right now these routes are informal, only used by those of us willing to cross other people's property and bring a flashlight at night.
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