Although the focus of Monday's Town Council meeting was the vote to approve the proposed expansion, council members similarly emphasized a commitment to the future of Chapel Hill.
Aaron Nelson, president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, issued a policy statement endorsing the road expansion -- one lane of continuous traffic in both directions with a middle left-hand turn lane throughout the thoroughfare, in addition to sidewalks and bike paths on both sides of the roadway.
The road improvements would be focused on the section of Weaver Dairy Road between N.C. 86 and Erwin Road.
Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy said that a year ago community members were divided on the decision to expand but that ultimately citizens said the issue of safety was too important for those opposed to the plan to ignore.
"The decision represents a significant movement to come to a consensus through compromise," Foy said. "It's been long and hard to achieve a compromise that a significant majority of council members and citizens could support."
Council Member Pat Evans represented the lone dissenting opinion. "I don't think (the three-lane design) is a safe alternative," she said. "I wanted to allow the (NCDOT) to use their professional expertise to make recommendations to us."
Evans also argued that the three-lane design would increase traffic and stops, leading to more noise and air pollution.
Burwell Ware, a member of Citizen Action for Responsible Roads and one of the few residents to attend the meeting, said a large public turnout was unnecessary because the proposal would pass overwhelmingly.
"Eighty people came out to the public hearing two weeks ago," he said. "(CARR) did not ask citizens to come out because we did not feel it was necessary. We were confident that we had at least eight votes to pass the proposal."
