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TO: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
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FROM: |
J.B. Culpepper, Planning Director |
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David Bonk, Long Range and Transportation Coordinator |
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SUBJECT: |
Response to Petition Concerning Bicycle Facilities for Estes Drive Extension |
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DATE: |
December 4, 2006 |
This memorandum responds to a petition submitted by Mr. Blair Pollock, and a request from Town of Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton, concerning the provision of bicycle facilities along Estes Drive Extension.
Adoption of the attached resolution would authorize the request for the reallocation of funds and request a preliminary study and cost estimate and a technical evaluation be carried out as soon as possible.
The Town of Chapel Hill 2007-2013 Transportation Priority List adopted April 5, 2005, includes # 8 Estes Drive Extension: NC 86 to Greensboro Street (Carrboro), widen to three lanes with five-foot bike lanes and sidewalks (Attachment 1).
The Draft 2007-2013 State Transportation Improvement Program does not include funding for improvements to Estes Drive Extension. However, it includes a funded project E-4710 ($650,000) scheduled for construction in 2007 to install bicycle facilities (four-foot wide shoulders) on Seawell School Road from Estes Drive Extension to Homestead Road. The project is partially located within the Town of Carrboro.
In considering the approval of the 2006-2012 Transportation Improvement Program, the Council requested that the Chapel Hill portion of the Estes Drive Extension be removed from consideration for immediate funding due to the uncertainty regarding the design of the Carolina North project.
During the summer of 2005, the North Carolina Department of Transportation installed a wide shoulder on Estes Drive Extension from Seawell School Road to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. This shoulder measures between two and four feet in width. The project was funded from the NC “Moving Ahead” program. The program provided State funds for highway improvements that could be constructed without major engineering work or the acquisition of additional rights of way or easements.
The Town of Carrboro 2007-2013 Transportation Priority List adopted March 1, 2005, includes #1 a request for funding for Estes Drive to add bike lanes, sidewalks, and transit accommodations on both sides of the road from Greensboro Street to the Town limits. On October 3, 2006, the Board of Alderman adopted a revised Priority List adding to the Estes Drive project description: “a multi-use path from Williams Street to Estes Drive to provide an alternative bicycle-pedestrian connection” (Attachment 2).
On November 20, 2006, Mr. Blair Pollock petitioned the Council with a suggested proposal to extend the existing wide shoulder treatment on Estes Drive Extension from Seawell School Road west to the Chapel Hill Town limits. The proposal identifies possible connections from this point to Greensboro Street in Carrboro via Village Drive in Chapel Hill and Pleasant Drive in Carrboro and through the Adams tract in Carrboro to Williams Street (Attachment 3). On November 20, 2006, Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton also requested that Chapel Hill support the reallocation of funds from the Seawell School Road project to Estes Drive Extension.
On November 20, 2006, the Council requested the staff respond to the petitions.
On November 28, 2006, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board discussed the petition and proposal to reallocate funds. The Board supports the reallocation of funds from Seawell School Road to Estes Drive Extension subject to clarification of the project scope between the Town of Chapel Hill, the Town of Carrboro and the North Carolina Department of Transportation (Attachment 4).
There are currently existing sidewalks and bicycle facilities along Seawell School Road, but they are sporadic and disconnected (Attachment 5 map of the existing facilities). The Town’s request for funding of the Seawell School Road project is to provide continuous sidewalks and bicycle facilities from Estes Drive Extension to Homestead Road. The facilities would connect existing neighborhoods to the elementary, middle and high schools.
The funded project included in the Draft 2007-2013 State Transportation Improvement Program for Seawell School Road is to provide bicycle facilities from Estes Drive Extension to Homestead Road. We understand that the $650,000 funding allocated in the Financial Year 2007-2013 Transportation Improvement Program would be insufficient for the project. A revised cost estimate of $2,000,000 was prepared by the North Carolina Department of Transportation earlier this fall.
Because there are insufficient funds to provide the project originally envisioned for Seawell School Road, and because the improvement of bicycle facilities on Estes Drive Extension would provide for a continuous bicycle facility between Chapel Hill and Carrboro we believe that there is merit in the proposal to reallocate the funding to the Estes Drive Extension project.
We also believe that there may be possible constraints to implementing the proposal, including the potential need for additional right of way acquisition, conflict with existing utilities and the steep topography bordering the westbound lane of Estes Drive Extension. We are also unsure of the ability to obtain access easements through the Adams tract and the Estes Park Apartments to secure connections to Greensboro Street as proposed by the Town of Carrboro. We understand that a basic feasibility study has been conducted on these proposed improvements by the North Carolina Department of Transportation with a preliminary cost estimate of $480,000.
A typical Transportation Improvement Project requires one to two years lead in time for feasibility, design and acquisition. We believe that even if funding is available in 2007, reallocation of the funding will not result in immediate project implementation. If the Council supports the proposed reallocation of funding we believe that the North Carolina Department of Transportation should be requested to clarify a project scope and cost estimate and a technical evaluation should be carried out as soon as possible.
We believe that if the funds are reallocated in the Draft 2007-2013 State Transportation Improvement Program from the Seawell School Road project to an Estes Drive Extension project any State funded improvements to Seawell School Road would be delayed for several years.
The Draft 2007-2013 State Transportation Improvement Program is currently under negotiation between the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO). We believe that it would be possible to make this proposed change in funding priorities as part of those negotiations.
Staff Recommendation: We recommend that the Council pursue a funding reallocation. We recommend that the Council should authorize the Metropolitan Planning Organization Technical Advisory Committee to request the reallocation. We also recommend the Technical Advisory Committee include, as part of the request, that the North Carolina Department of Transportation undertake a preliminary study clarifying a project scope and cost estimate as soon as possible.
Adoption of the attached resolution would authorize the request for the reallocation of funds and request the preliminary study and cost estimate and a technical evaluation be carried out as soon as possible.
