The Carrboro Town Council met on Tuesday night to discuss the Safe Streets For All/Vision Zero action plan and police equity efforts.
What’s new?
- Council Member Randee Haven-O’Donnell introduced the theme for this year’s Earth Month as “Our people, our power.” She encouraged community members to participate in anti-food waste initiatives and attend the Town’s Earth Day and Open Streets car-free celebration on April 6.
- Town Manager Patrice Toney also announced that Carrboro is a finalist for the All-America City Award due to its commitment to sustainability.
- “Our Green Neighborhoods Grant has given me a little bit of purpose in this community to have an impact that’s a little bit larger than what I can do in my own household, and that’s been very motivating,” Carrie Donley, a member of the Fairoaks Compost leadership team, said. “And I think if towns are going to make a difference, they need progressive leaders, but if towns are going to make a difference they also need community members that are willing to make some changes as well.”
- Town Planning Administrator Tina Moon asked council members to approve a draft action plan for the Safe Streets and Roads for All initiative which is aligned with Vision Zero, a multi-national strategy that aims to calm traffic and eliminate pedestrian and cyclist fatalities.
- Carrboro Chief of Police Chris Atack and Town Social Worker Monrita Hughes presented updates on the Carrboro Police Department’s quarterly traffic stop policy review and its mental health diversion program.
- Atack said the Carrboro Police Department is consulting with community stakeholders like El Centro Hispano, Chapel-Hill Carrboro NAACP and the Center for Policing Equity to analyze how officers can continue to eliminate racial biases in traffic violations.
- “The original impetus was to fix some racial disparities, to make sure also that we were not focusing on traffic enforcement that was not specifically safety-focused,” he said.
- The Carrboro Police Department hired Hughes last Februrary as its first diversion social worker. She said her work is focused on diverting individuals with mental illnesses from the criminal justice system by referring them to social support services.
- “There’s sort of two posts we’re having to rest our hopes on in Carrboro as far as policing goes, and policing [makes] a positive difference,” Board Member Catherine Fray said. “That is our policies and our officers’ principles.”
What decisions were made?
- The council unanimously voted to endorse adopting the Safe Streets For All/Vision Zero action plan.
- Proposed infrastructure specific to Carrboro includes restriping the intersection of West Main and West Poplar Avenue, adding bike lane buffers to Hillsborough Road and installing Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons at local elementary and middle schools, which are LED-powered warning devices that alert drivers of pedestrians’ presence in crosswalks.
What's next
- Town transportation planning staff have until mid-June to finalize the Safe Streets For All/Vision Zero action plan.
- The council will meet again for a work session on April 8 at the Carrboro Town Hall at 6 p.m.
