Council eyes methods to improve Cameron

Although problems with parking and biker safety along Cameron Avenue are not a new issue, the Chapel Hill Town Council now is examining ways to rectify the situation.

The council heard several different proposals for alternatives at its Monday night meeting, at which discussion centered on whether the town should establish parking meters, bike lanes or a combination of both.

The proposals specifically dealt with the renovation of about 90 nonmetered parking spaces along Cameron Avenue between Pittsboro Street and Merritt Mill Road.

On-street parking currently is prohibited on the south side of Cameron Avenue between 7 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. and on the north side from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

During these periods, the parking lanes on each side of the road are designated as bike lanes that cyclists and other nonmotor commuters can use.

"It's dangerous to have a bike lane that comes and goes," said Claire Millar, a member of the town's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board.

Town Manager Cal Horton made a recommendation Monday that would place parking meters on nonmetered spots.

This proposal would require 39 double meters and 12 single meters to be installed, which would cost the town about $35,000, said Kumar Nepalli, a traffic engineer with the town.

These meters would generate somewhere between $67,000 and $87,100 annually for the town, according to information presented at Monday's meeting.

The town's Transportation Board and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board both endorsed an alternative to parking meters that would establish 8-foot wide bicycle lanes and prohibit parking on both sides of Cameron Avenue at all times.

"The cost of striping for bike lanes would not be significant," said Nepalli, adding that it could come out of the town's existing budget.

The council could not agree on one proposal from Monday's meeting and is looking for a new resolution that ideally would accommodate both metered parking and bike lanes, council member Jim Ward said Tuesday.

"This process will probably take some time," said Ward, adding that he expects the council to hear the new proposal in a couple of weeks.

According to a traffic report presented at Monday's meeting, increased parking congestion for the residential streets directly off Cameron Avenue could be a potential problem if the spaces are eliminated.

"Eliminating 90 spaces could be a bit of a hardship on some, but the benefits to cyclists and pedestrians outweigh the costs," said George Cianciolo, chairman of the transportation board.

"The majority of those neighborhoods already have restricted residential parking, so it won't put too much of a burden on those areas," he said.

Millar said any resolution eventually adopted should stress the availability of other transit options.

"The majority of the parking congestion has been identified as students attending class during the day, and there are alternative forms of transportation that these students can use," Ward said.

The council approved the current parking and bike lane regulations in 2000, after receiving reports and taking actions in 1988 and 1996. Still, the petitions for new plans continue to roll in.

But no matter what type of plan is adopted eventually, Ward said, the main concern for the council is for the collective safety of cyclists, pedestrians and motorists.

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