East Rosemary Street reopened Monday after almost eight months of closure for traffic. While the street was open only to sidewalk pedestrians during the closure, cars are now able to access the street without detours to Columbia, Henderson, North and Franklin streets.
The street was initially closed on August 21 between North Columbia Street and Henderson Street due to construction of a parking deck, with the road block projected to last six months. The closure of the street allowed more room for construction crews to work with large building materials.
Alex Carrasquillo, the Town of Chapel Hill’s community safety public information officer, said in an email that the Town was excited to reopen the street, and that the community’s patience in the months of traffic pushed onto surrounding streets was appreciated.
Community members, especially those who live near East Rosemary Street, look forward to the influx of traffic on detour streets decreasing. Darcy Hall, a UNC student living on North Street, said the detour traffic created dangerous conditions.
“It's gotten way, way worse, especially around rush hour, sometimes traffic will be backed up,” she said. “We've had some issues in my house with the cars coming down this road, they'll speed really fast.”
The construction of the parking deck is part of a greater Town initiative called the East Rosemary Street Redevelopment Project, which will provide over 1,000 parking spaces to downtown Chapel Hill.
Though construction of the parking deck is not expected to be complete until this summer, the road will be available for all to use.
