Public gives input on traffic issues in Glen Lennox mixed-use development

Traffic concerns dominated the discussion at the Glen Lennox public input session Tuesday.

The proposed Glen Lennox mixed-use development would be located at the intersection of N.C. Highway 54 and U.S. Highway 15-501.http://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=2211 Chapel Hill officials and Glen Lennox developers are still negotiating the development agreement.

Jason Damweber,http://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?recordid=377&page=966 assistant to the town manager, said questions raised at the public input session would be answered in an online document by the developers and town staff and submitted to the Chapel Hill Town Council.

Kumar Neppalli,http://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?recordid=333&page=966engineering services manager for the Town of Chapel Hill, presented the traffic plan for the proposed development at the session. 

Neppalli said any new development requires a traffic study and consequent recommendations from a consultant, which result in a traffic plan.

"We are in a stage where we all agree (on the Glen Lennox plan)," he said.

The traffic plan includes a proposed access road connecting the Glen Lennox development to 15-501. The new intersection would include a crosswalk for pedestrians crossing 15-501 but would not allow drivers exiting the Glen Lennox development to turn left onto 15-501.http://www.townofchapelhill.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=23005

The plan also includes new right turn lanes along N.C. Highway 54 as well as right turn lanes for the proposed access road and Brandon Road off of 15-501. 

Finally, a new traffic signal is proposed for the Brandon Road intersection. The signal would allow drivers turning right at the access road to make a U-turn at Brandon Road in order to drive south on 15-501.

Neppalli said drivers could use the more efficient U-turn option rather than driving through nearby residential areas to exit the Glen Lennox site.

Residents raised concern that traffic calming measures would be necessary for the residential areas near Hamilton, Hayes and Flemington Roads. Neppalli said this would be considered.

"Speed tables, traffic circles, on-street parking — these are all the developer's obligation to study and plan for," he said. "There is a stipulation that the developer must plan for that."

Neppalli also mentioned potential removal of the median at the intersection of Hayes and Brandon Roads across from the Church of the Holy Familyhttp://chfepiscopal.org/ to improve traffic flow. 

The church's representative Deedee Nachmanhttp://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=1431 said she hoped the median would be removed because it blocks access to a church parking lot.

Rachel Russell,https://www.linkedin.com/pub/rachel-russell/a/7a5/288 director of real estate development at Grubb Properties, said the developers have planned to minimize noise and dust pollution at Glen Lennox construction sites.

"The hours of construction would be limited so you wouldn't have noise in the evening; you would have no construction traffic on certain streets; the contractor would water down the streets to prevent dust," she said. "There's an exhaustive list."

Neppalli said town staff would conduct a feasibility study to explore possibilities such as installing a barrier to separate nearby residences from the traffic at the Glen Lennox access road.

Notable:

Councilman Ed Harrisonhttp://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=96 expressed concern that Triangle Transit's plan for a new rail station near the fire station on Hamilton Road would cause a massive increase in pedestrians in the area, which could increase traffic problems at Glen Lennox in the future.

Quotable:

"It's been a long process — almost six and a half years," said Clay Grubbhttp://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=1431, president of Grubb Properties. "It's certainly had its moments, but at the end of the day, the biggest success was the amount of time these folks invested in sitting here and going through every aspect of the plan, and coming up with a plan that could not have been achieved just purely in the private sector with professionals."