to: Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager
from: George Small, P.E., Director of Engineering
Kumar Neppalli, E.I.T., Engineering Services Manager
David Bonk, Long Range and Transportation Planning Manager
subject: Response to a Petition for Pedestrian Crossing Safety Improvements on Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard between Estes Drive and Piney Mountain Road
date: September 22, 2008
This purpose of this report is to provide a response to a petition requesting pedestrian crossing safety improvements on Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard between Estes Drive and Piney Mountain Road near Shadowood Apartments.
A pedestrian refuge island with several crossing improvements at the subject location is expected to be constructed in the Fall of this year. No action is required by the Town Council.
At its June 25, 2008, the Town Council received and referred a petition from a Council Member requesting safety improvements for pedestrians crossing Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard between Estes Drive and Piney Mountain Road near Shadowood Apartments. The petition also requests installation of pedestrian warning signs as an interim safety measure. An area map is provided in Attachment 1.
Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard is a State maintained road and has five lanes between Estes Drive and Piney Mountain Road. The posted speed limit in this area is 35 mph on Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard. Bus stops are located on both sides of Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard near Shadowood Apartments. Significant number of bus riders cross Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard from the nearby apartments and no marked crosswalks are in place in this area.
The N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) approved the request for installation of pedestrian warning signs. Town staff installed the signs along with orange flags in August.
The Town Council in 2007 approved a plan that contains several safety measures for pedestrians and bicycles on NC 86/ Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard. The Town received $250,000 in FY 2008 and $150,000 in FY 09 from the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO for implementing several pedestrian and bicycle safety measures. The Town and NCDOT selected the bus stop location on Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard between Estes Drive and Piney Mountain Road near Shadowood Apartments to implement the first pedestrian refuge island as part of the NC 86 study.
Recently, the Town’s consultant completed the design of the pedestrian refuge island which contained the following elements:
Please see Attachment 2 for design elements of the subject pedestrian refuge island. We are in the process of getting approval of the subject pedestrian refuge island from NCDOT and the construction is expected to start in November of this year. The Town also plan to implement similar refuge island elements at two locations on Franklin Street near Elizabeth Street and Couch Street.
A pedestrian refuge island with several crossing improvements at the subject location is expected to be constructed in the Fall of this year. No action is required by the Town Council.
