TO THE EDITOR:
I’d like to voice my concerns regarding Chapel Hill Transit’s policies and procedures for stops along South Columbia Street near Coolidge Street, the area which is still an active construction zone along the west side of South Columbia Street between 15-501 and Mason Farm Road.
Recently drivers (of the NS, J and V routes, among others which serve South Columbia Street) have been skipping the southbound stop which NextBus labels “S Columbia at Chase Ave,” with the result that riders have to get off either at Westwood or across from Purefoy.
A driver I asked about this cited a policy of not stopping next to the construction zone. While not letting off riders into the construction zone is an understandable precaution, the actual result of this policy is that customers living along Coolidge Street and the surrounding neighborhood have to walk several hundred yards up or down South Columbia, inside the construction zone, or else twice cross over South Columbia in often heavy traffic (and have to cross the construction zone anyways).
This is far less safe than simply being let off closer to Coolidge Street. Of course, in the evenings, when construction has stopped, this isn’t so concerning.
Of much greater concern is that residents from the Coolidge Street neighborhood needing to use CHT in the mornings have to walk through an active construction site in order to reach either the northbound or southbound stops.
On one occasion, I was caught in a gap no larger than 6 feet between a dump truck and a passing transit bus(!) — not to mention that I and other riders must cross the road with no access to a crosswalk each morning in order to reach the northbound stop, “S Columbia at Coolidge St,” which has inexplicably been placed no less than 400 feet south of Coolidge Street. As construction crews have begun to lay asphalt this week, the situation has become even more dangerous.
I hope that CHT will take some temporary measures which will improve the safety of their customers in this area, such as a shuttle or working with the University’s DPS to provide temporary parking passes until construction has been completed.
At the very least, CHT should reverse the policy of skipping the Chase Avenue stop, so that Coolidge Street neighborhood residents do not have as far to walk through the construction zone.
Until some change is made, it seems as though CHT has decided to simply stop serving customers in the affected area, especially since it has apparently directed drivers to skip the closest stop entirely, and has moved another stop far down the road.
