Town Council scrutinizes Chapel Hill transportation

The Chapel Hill Town Council will take public comment tonight on two reports regarding safety concerns and transit use on some of the area's major traffic arteries.

The council will hear comments on a study of bike and pedestrian safety on Airport Road as well as on the town's 2003 mobility report card, which analyzes the use of the town's transit systems and traffic on major corridors.

Both reports were presented to the council at its Oct. 11 meeting.

Council member Ed Harrison said the Airport Road study was of importance to students who use the road often.

"Students live up and down both sides of the road," he said. "It's tough to cross."

The Airport Road study found that traffic density and current speed limits create a hazardous environment for pedestrians and bicyclists.

This situation was particularly noticeable at the Umstead Drive and Hillsborough Street intersection with Airport Road, where a significant number of accidents occurred, according to the report.

Harrison, who said he occasionally bikes along the road, added that many accidents stemmed from bicyclists on sidewalks who might be unaware of vehicles pulling out of driveways.

The study's recommendations to the council include constructing a median and additional bike paths and reducing the speed limit.

Eleanor Howe, vice chairwoman of the town's transportation board, said she thinks the study is beneficial but needs to be implemented.

"The study makes a number of wonderful recommendations," she said. "(But) a study like this can often be accepted and then put on the shelf."

It could take some time before changes on the road begin to develop, Howe said.

"It's not like the council will approve the recommendations on Monday and something will happen Tuesday," she said.

Howe said funding the project could also be a problem.

The mobility report card, issued once every two years, found that in 2003 more pedestrians but fewer bicyclists were taking to the streets.

The first report was done by L.S.A. Associates Inc. in 2001.

The 2003 report is the first to include information on multimodal mobility - a transit operations and ridership overview.

The report determined that Airport, Raleigh and South roads and Franklin Street show the highest potential for multimodal transit.

Fixed-route transit service hours since 2001 were up by 42 percent, as was transit ridership, which had a 55 percent increase, according to the report.

Several advisory boards have already made recommendations to the council concerning the report card, according to a memo on tonight's forums.

Also included in the memo is a recommendation from Town Manager Cal Horton to secure funding from the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization for a new mobility report in 2005.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.