The Carrboro Town Council met on Tuesday to discuss traffic calming on East Winmore Avenue.
What was discussed?
- Planning Administrator Tina Moon submitted a traffic calming request for East Winmore Avenue.
- The staff considered converting the intersection to a three-way stop based on a resident's recommendation, but decided to start with one additional stop sign due to visibility and car stacking concerns, Moon said. The staff's recommendation is to add the sign at the intersection with Jewell Drive.
- “The way we typically approach traffic calming is, we try to begin with stage one first, which would be some type of a neighborhood meeting with the police department or with staff, and then kind of the low-hanging fruit — in this case, the installation of a stop sign. If it proves that that isn't sufficient, which we find out with that follow-up analysis, then we can revisit and try something that’s a little bit more intensive, a little bit more of a physical change,” Moon said.
- The traffic calming infrastructure already in place is a speed table near Jewell Drive and a crosswalk for the neighborhood greenway. Moon said speed is more of an issue going downhill, and the stop sign would slow drivers going down the hill.
- “The full three-way stop gives us the most attenuation of risk of any kind of collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian or cyclist,” Winmore Homeowners Association President Craig Romaine said.
- Romaine said he would encourage the council to vote for the three-way stop, and he would encourage extra signage if the council votes for only one stop sign.
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Council member Catherine Fray said the council should direct staff to plan for a revision of the traffic management policy.
- “I found the real lens very helpful for this because it highlighted what I think is actually maybe an underlying issue that we should be digging in on, which is the process that you have to go through to get traffic calming,” Frey said.
- Mayor Barbara Foushee said the last revision for the residential traffic management plan was in October 2006.
- Planning Director Trish McGuire said the Land Use Ordinance applies to new projects while town code applies to the existing situation.
- She said the planning department can make a plan for revising the residential traffic management policy, but she does not recommend it to be done under the umbrella of the Land Use Ordinance rewrite.
- The staff considered converting the intersection to a three-way stop based on a resident's recommendation, but decided to start with one additional stop sign due to visibility and car stacking concerns, Moon said. The staff's recommendation is to add the sign at the intersection with Jewell Drive.
What was decided?
- The council unanimously voted to proceed with the single stop sign installation.
- The council unanimously voted to direct staff to make a plan for revising the residential traffic management plan separate from the Land Use Ordinance rewrite, but within the same timeline.
What's next?
- The Carrboro Town Council will meet again on Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. at Carrboro Town Hall.
