AGENDA #2b

MEMORANDUM

TO: Mayor and Town Council

FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

SUBJECT: Public Forum: Sidewalk Construction Plan for 2005-2006

DATE: January 9, 2006

This Public Forum has been scheduled to receive public input on the development of a proposed Sidewalk Construction Plan for 2005-2006.

The Town Manager’s preliminary recommendation for a 2005-2006 Construction Plan is that the Town continue to work on the list of sidewalk projects remaining from the 2004-2005 Construction Plan.

The attached resolution would refer comments received at tonight’s forum to the Town Manager for a follow-up report to the Council at its February 13, 2006 meeting.

BACKGROUND

On January 24, 2005, the Town Council adopted a Sidewalk Construction Plan for 2004-05. The resolution approved a list of 23 sidewalk projects located on Town-maintained streets and eight sidewalk projects located on State-maintained streets for construction as funds allowed. Please see Attachment 1 and Map 1.

On October 24, 2005, the Town Council scheduled a Public Forum requesting comments on a Sidewalk Construction Plan for 2005-2006. The Town Council is scheduled to consider action on the Sidewalk Construction Plan for 2005-2006 on February 27, 2006.

Attachment 2 describes the Town’s Sidewalk Ranking System and the Town’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan which are used as the basis for developing an annual construction plan. Map 2 is the Pedestrian Facilities Plan from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan. It identifies all the sidewalks currently proposed for the Town. Attachment 3 provides a detailed description of the sources of funds for sidewalk construction.

2004-2005 CONSTRUCTION PLAN UPDATE

In Fiscal Year 2004-2005 $600,000 in 2004 bond funds, $50,000 in residual sidewalk funds from the Capital Improvement Program and $ 30,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds were available for sidewalk construction. Attachment 3 outlines how these funds have been used to date. Table 1 details current spending commitments from the 2004 Bond Sale.

Table 1

Sidewalk Construction Projects Funded by General Obligation Bonds

(“T” denotes Town Road, “S” State Road)

2004 Bond Funded Projects
Committed Projects	Construction By	Status	Committed funds
T6. Curtis Road west side from Clayton Road to Elliott Road	Town Crews	Completed	$ 28,000
T11. Westminster Drive, north side each side of Banks Road	Town Crews	Completed	$ 25,000
T12 Ransom Street, east side from McCauley to University Drive	Contractor	Underway	$ 75,000
T 15 Vance Street, south side Ransom Street to Pittsboro Street	Contractor	Underway	$ 39,500
T 16 Kenan Street, east side, Cameron Avenue to Franklin Street	Contractor	Underway	$ 61,500
T 17 Kingston Drive, east side, south from Weaver Dairy Road	Town Crews	Underway	$ 43,000
S.3 Estes Drive, south side from Franklin Street to Willow Drive ( no state funds available)	Contractor	Anticipated Start 2006	$ 44,000
S5 Culbreth Road both sides Channing Lane to US 15-501. Total cost estimate $87,000. $36,000 in STP DA funds will be refunded on completion	Contractor	Anticipated Start 2006	$ 51,000
S6 Fordham Boulevard, east side at northeast corner intersection with Estes Drive Total cost $15,000. $12,000 in STP DA funds will be refunded on completion	Contractor	Anticipated Start 2006	$ 3,000
S8 Culbreth Road, south side, between Cobble Ridge Road and Rossburn Way. Total cost estimate $113,000, $90,000 in STPDA funds will be refunded on completion funds	Contractor	Anticipated Start 2006	$ 23,000
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard west side at Northfield Drive Total cost estimate $325,000. $260,000 in STP DA funds will be refunded on completion	Contractor	Anticipated Start 2008	$ 15,000
Total Bond Fund Allocation			$600,000
Total Funds Committed to 2004-2005 Plan			$403,000
Funds Available			$187,000

The 2004-2005 Plan included 32 potential projects (please see Attachment 1 and Map 1). The total cost of the sidewalk projects in the plan exceeded the funding available to implement all the projects. The 2004-2005 Plan was intended to allow the Town Manager to pursue alternative projects if for any reason there was an obstacle to implementing one or more of the projects on the list.

Since adoption of the plan, six of the sidewalk projects located on Town-maintained streets have now been completed and five are underway. Five of the projects on State-maintained streets should be put out to contract later this year. Please see Map 3 which shows the status of all the projects from the 2004-2005 Construction Plan.

For the sidewalk projects on State-maintained streets where the Town is receiving State Transportation Direct Allocation Funds (STPDA) funds, the Town will initially need to fund the full project expense. Eighty percent of the project cost will be refunded on completion. The local match requirements for these projects are identified in Table 1 above and have been set aside from the 2004 Bond Sale. The projects are two projects on Culbreth Road one at Fordham Boulevard and one on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

To date we have not taken any action on 12 projects located on Town-maintained streets and three projects located on State-maintained streets. Attachment 4 describes the status of the projects to be constructed from the 2004-2005 Construction Plan on which we have not taken any action.

The total cost of completing the remaining projects from the 2004-2005 Construction Plan is estimated to be $645,000; and $187,000 is currently available in funds from the 2004 Bond Sale.

The 2004 Bond Sale also included $100,000 for Pedestrian Amenities and $350,000 for Neighborhood Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Improvements. The status of these funds is included in a separate memorandum on this agenda concerning the Annual Traffic Calming Report.

NEW REQUESTS FOR SIDEWALKS IN 2005

Since the adoption of the 2004-2005 Sidewalks Construction Plan the Town received a request for sidewalks from the Ephesus Safe Routes to School Initiative. On March 23, 2005, the Active Living by Design Committee submitted a request to the Town Council to fund a program of projects in the Colony Woods and Briarcliff neighborhoods. This request was supported by Chapel Hill Carrboro Schools. On April 27, 2005, the Council Budget Work Session included a paper from the Planning Director which reviewed this initiative. The Director of Planning suggested that the sidewalk projects requested be considered for inclusion in the 2005-2006 Sidewalk Construction Plan. Please see Attachment 5.

During 2005, parent groups in the Ephesus elementary neighborhood carried out a survey and audit of the neighborhoods surrounding the Ephesus Elementary School as part of a Safe Routes to School Initiative. This project was coordinated through the Town’s Active Living by Design Program. The parent groups identified various improvements, including 10 new sidewalks. The Active Living by Design Committee recommended that the priority 1, 2 and 3 sidewalks identified by the parent groups be considered by the Council for funding in the Town’s Capital Improvement Program. Please see Map 4.

Map 4 overlays the requested sidewalks on top of the Pedestrian Facilities Plan of the Town’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan. Map 4 shows that there is some consistency between the requested sidewalks and the sidewalks proposed in the Town’s Pedestrian Facilities Plan, but there is also significant difference. The similarities and differences are as follows:

· The Pedestrian Facilities Plan and the initiative both propose a new sidewalk on the south side of Ephesus Church Road from US 15-501 to Eden Lane and they both propose a sidewalk on Tinkerbell Road from Fountain Ridge Road crossing Ephesus Church Road down to Leclair Street. The Ephesus initiative also proposes to extend that sidewalk to the southern end of Tinkerbell Road. Both also propose a sidewalk extending along Willow Drive to Emory Drive and on Emory Drive to Leclair Street. The Ephesus initiative also proposes to extend that sidewalk to the southern end of Emory Drive.

· The Ephesus initiative proposes new sidewalks along the entire lengths of Spruce Street, Cypress Road, Eden lane, Ferrell Road Thornwood Road, Landerwood Lane and finally they propose extending the existing sidewalk on Churchill Drive to its intersection with Brigham Road. The Pedestrian Facilities Plan does not currently propose these sidewalks.

· The Pedestrian Facilities Plan proposes sidewalks along Longleaf Drive from Ephesus Church Road to Leclair Street, and along the entire lengths of Leclair Street and Manly Street. The Ephesus initiative does not propose these sidewalks.

We have applied the Town sidewalk ranking system to the sidewalks requested by the Ephesus initiative and prepared a revised Sidewalks Priority List. Please see Attachment 6.

The table below shows where the requested sidewalks appear in a revised Town sidewalks priority list and provides a cost estimate for each project. It also identifies with an asterisk which requested sidewalks are broadly consistent with the Town’s Pedestrian Facilities Plan.

Location	Project Limits	Ephesus Initiative Priority	Town Rank	Length	Cost Estimate
Ephesus Church Road *	US 15-501 to Eden Lane,	1	5	3,000	105,000
Francis Street	Entire Length	3	7	1,500	53,000
Cypress Road/ Spruce Street/ Eden Lane	Entire Length	2	7	3,300	116,000
Willow Drive *	Longleaf Drive to Emory Drive.	3	11	1,000	35,000
Emory Drive *	Longleaf Drive to Grove Street	3	11	7,000	245,000
Churchill Drive	Longleaf Dr. to Brigham Rd.	2	11	5,000	175,000
Tinkerbell Road *	Fountain Ridge Road to southern end	2	7	4,800	168,000
Ferrell Road	Entire Length	3	7	2,300	81,000
Thornwood Road	Entire Length	3	11	2,000	70,000
Landerwood Lane	Entire Length	3	11	2,800	98,000
				Total	1,146,000

2005-2006 CONSTRUCTION PLAN

To prepare the 2004-2005 Construction Plan we took projects from the Sidewalks Priority List which is generated by applying the Town’s adopted Sidewalk Ranking System to possible sidewalk projects that have been identified by citizen request, board or committee recommendation or staff analysis. We focused on high priority projects and took into account possible complications related to construction. Finally we applied principles from the Town’s adopted Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan. Please see Attachment 2.

There are 15 projects which remain on the 2004-2005 Construction Plan which have been approved for construction by the Council but to which we have not currently allocated funds. Please see Attachment 4. There are potential constraints and timing issues related to constructing several of these projects, including three projects on Rosemary Street that are part of the pending review of the Streetscape Master Plan. However, we believe that during 2006 we could proceed with projects on Cameron Avenue, North Street and Umstead Drive using the $187,000 currently available from the 2004 Bond Sale.

NEXT STEPS

After tonight’s public forum, we will review comments received and return to the Council with a final recommendation on February 13, 2006.

ADVISORY BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS

The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board, Chapel Hill Active Living by Design Partnership Advisory Committee, the Planning Board and the Transportation Board were consulted to provide input for a 2005-2006 Construction Plan.

Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board: At their meeting on October 27, 2005, the Board did not have a quorum. The members present made the following comments by consensus: That the Town continue to work on the remaining projects from the approved 2004-2005 Construction Plan. In addition the Board recommend that the next 12 projects from the Town’s Sidewalk Priority List be added to the unfinished 2004-2005 list to replace the projects which have been constructed or are scheduled for construction. Please see Attachment 7.

Chapel Hill Active Living by Design Partnership Advisory Committee Recommendation: At their meeting on November 9, 2005, the Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the Council incorporate the recommendations made for the Ephesus community into the Sidewalks and Bicycle Facilities Plan as previously presented to Council. Please see Attachment 8.

Planning Board Recommendation: At their meeting on November 1, 2005, the Planning Board endorsed the recommendation of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board. Please see Attachment 9.

Transportation Board Recommendation: At their meeting on December 6, 2005, the Transportation Board recommended that projects that provide improved access to schools and public transit be given higher consideration for construction. Please see Attachment 10.

RECOMMENDATION

Manager’s Preliminary Recommendation: Our preliminary recommendation for the 2005-2006 Construction Plan is that the Town continue work on the list of sidewalk projects which remain from the 2004-2005 Construction Plan adopted in January 2005. We recommend the Council adopt the attached resolution referring citizen comments from the forum to the Town Manager for a follow-up report to the Council at its February 13, 2006 meeting.