AGENDA #4d
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Follow-up Report Regarding Traffic Calming Measures on Lonebrook Drive
DATE: April 11, 2005
This report discusses the status of traffic calming measures installed and proposed for installation on Lonebrook Drive. Attachment 1 is a map of the Lonebrook Drive area of town.
Stop signs on Lonebrook Drive at the Tremont Circle and Glenmore Road intersections were removed on April 1, 2005 as directed by the Town Council at its November 8, 2004 regular meeting. Enactment of the attached ordinance would correct the Town Code of Ordinances regarding stop regulations on Lonebrook Drive following removal of the stop signs.
We recommend enactment of the attached ordinance.
At its January 27, 2003 meeting, the Council approved installation of the following traffic calming measures on Lonebrook Drive, as shown on the attached map (Attachment 1):
· Three speed humps
· Stop signs at the Tremont Circle and Glenmore Road intersections
The stop signs were installed in the spring of 2003, and the speed humps were scheduled for installation during the summer of 2003. In April 2003, the Council received and referred a petition from Mr. Eric Plow, a resident of the Northwood V neighborhood requesting removal of the recently installed stop signs on Lonebrook Drive at Tremont Circle and that the northernmost speed hump not be installed on Lonebrook Drive. At its June 9, 2003 meeting, the Council received a staff report in response to Mr. Plow’s petition. The Council deferred action on the petition, and directed the Manager to delay the installation of speed humps on Lonebrook Drive and to study the effects of the stop signs alone. The Council further directed the Manager to report back with results of the study including recommendations on the petitioner’s requests.
At its April 26, 2004 meeting, the Council received the Manager’s follow-up report that included the results of the study and recommended that the stop signs remain in place and that three speed humps be installed on Lonebrook Drive as proposed in the original traffic calming plan.
The Council again deferred the action on the petition until such time that the Council adopted formal policy and procedures for neighborhood traffic calming.
At its June 2004 meeting, the Council adopted formal Traffic Calming Policy and Procedures to be applied within the Town’s planning jurisdiction. At its November 8, 2004 meeting, the Council received a staff report evaluating the original petition for traffic calming measures on Lonebrook Drive as related to the requirements of the adopted policy and procedures for traffic calming.
Because there was no clear consensus among property owners regarding the installation of traffic calming measures within the Lonebrook Drive service area, the Council adopted a resolution deferring the installation of speed humps on Lonebrook Drive until residents in the service area submitted a valid petition in accordance with the Council’s adopted Traffic Calming Policy and Procedures.
The Council further resolved that, if a valid traffic calming petition was not received before April 1, 2005, the existing stop signs on Lonebrook Drive at Tremont Circle and Glenmore Road would be removed. A copy of the November 8, 2004 Council resolution is provided in Attachment 2.
DISCUSSION
We determined that a total of 196 property owners are in the Lonebrook Drive service area. A petition with signatures of two-third’s of the property owners within the service area is required under the adopted Traffic Calming Policy and Procedures. Therefore, signatures of 131 property owners in the service area would be necessary to validate a traffic calming petition for Lonebrook Drive.
Town staff provided neighborhood representatives with the necessary petition documents and reminded them that unless a valid petition was submitted before April 1, 2005, the above-referenced stop signs would be removed as directed by the Town Council. We contacted neighborhood representatives in February 2005 regarding the status of their traffic calming petition endeavor. We were advised that they were unable to collect an adequate number of signatures for a valid petition, and we received the attached e-mail communication (Attachment 3) confirming that.
In accordance with the Council’s direction, we have removed the existing stop signs on Lonebrook Drive at the Tremont Circle and Glenmore Road intersections.
We are not planning any further action regarding the installation of physical traffic calming measures on Lonebrook Drive unless and until we receive a valid petition from property owners in the service area. If a petition is submitted, we would review and evaluate it in accordance with the adopted policy and procedures and would include this along with others in the annual traffic calming report for funding consideration by the Town Council.
The Manager has directed that the Police Department implement periodic enforcement of traffic regulations on Lonebrook Drive to the extent possible with available resources.
MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATION
The Town Manager recommends enactment of the attached ordinance that would correct the Town Code of Ordinances regarding stop regulations on Lonebrook Drive following removal of the stop signs.
1. Area Map showing Locations of Approved Traffic Calming Devices (p. 5).
2. November 8, 2004 Council Resolution (p. 6).
3. E-mail from Lonebrook Drive neighborhood representative (p. 7).
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 21 OF THE TOWN CODE OF ORDINANCES REGARDING STOP REGULATIONS (2005-04-11/O-2)
BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill as follows:
Section 1. Section 21-13(c) of the Town Code of Ordinances, “Right-of-way and stop regulations.” is hereby amended by deleting the following:
“Intersection(s)
Lonebrook Drive and Glenmore Road
Lonebrook Drive and Tremont Circle”
Section 2. Section 21-13(a) of the Town Code of Ordinances, “Right-of-way and stop regulations.” is hereby amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:
“Through Streets Stop Streets
Lonebrook Drive Glenmore Road
Lonebrook Drive Tremont Circle”
Section 3. This ordinance shall become effective upon adoption.
This the 11th day of April, 2005.