AGENDA #4c
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM : W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Response to Petition Requesting Rescoping of the Long-Term Charge of the Citizens Committee to Study Traffic Safety Issues on Weaver Dairy Road
DATE: February 25 , 2002
The following information responds to a petition from the Citizens Committee to Study Traffic Safety Issues on Weaver Dairy Road requesting that the Council rescope the long-term portion of the Committee’s charge.
The Manager recommends adoption of the attached resolution directing the Committee to stand in recess pending further direction from the Council.
At the February 11, 2001 Council meeting, the Citizens Committee to Study Traffic Safety Issues on Weaver Dairy Road presented a petition requesting that the Council rescope the long-term portion of the Committee’s charge. Attachment #1 is a copy of the Committee’s petition. The Committee made this request in response to the Council’s action at its January 28, 2002, regular meeting regarding the proposed Weaver Dairy Road Improvement Project. At that meeting, the Council adopted a resolution (Attachment #2) authorizing the Mayor to communicate with the North Carolina Department of Transportation on behalf of the Town to request:
1) That the NCDOT immediately suspend all planning, including engineering planning, for the widening of Weaver Dairy Road; and
2) Ask that any funds allocated by the NCDOT not be allocated away from Chapel Hill until the Town communicates the result of its reconsideration of this issue; and
3) That the planning remain suspended until such time as the Chapel Hill Town Council reconsiders its earlier decision, and formally communicates the results of its reconsideration to the NCDOT.
The Weaver Dairy Road Committee was charged by the Council to develop both short-term and long-term recommendations for improving safety on Weaver Dairy Road. The Committee presented short-term recommendations (regarding the existing Weaver Dairy Road) to the Council on January 28, 2002. The Committee met on February 7, 2002, and discussed whether or not the Committee should proceed with work on the second part of its charge, developing long-term safety recommendations assuming that Weaver Dairy Road would be widened to a four-lane median divided facility, as previously directed by the Council.
Because the Council has decided to reconsider what, if any, future improvements might occur on Weaver Dairy Road and has requested that the State temporarily stop further design work on the project, the Committee agreed that it would not be productive to proceed with step two of its charge until the Council completes its reconsideration of the Weaver Dairy Road project.
The Manager recommends that the Council adopt the attached resolution that authorizes the Citizens Committee to Study Traffic Safety Issues on Weaver Dairy Road to stand in recess pending further direction from the Council.
1. Copy of the February 6, 2002 Petition from the Weaver Dairy Road Committee (p. 4).
2. Copy of the January 28, 2002 Council Resolution regarding the Weaver Dairy Road Project (p. 6).
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITIZENS COMMITTEE TO STUDY TRAFFIC SAFETY ISSUES ON WEAVER DAIRY ROAD TO STAND ADJOURNED PENDING FURTHER DIRECTION FROM THE TOWN COUNCIL (2002-02-25/R-4)
WHEREAS, the Committee has submitted a report identifying several short-term traffic safety problems and possible solutions associated with the existing Weaver Dairy Road; and
WHEREAS, the Council has requested that the North Carolina Department of Transportation suspend all planning, including engineering planning, for the future widening of Weaver Dairy Road until such time as the Council reconsiders its earlier decision on the project;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council authorizes the Citizens Committee to Study Traffic Safety Issues on Weaver Dairy Road to stand in recess pending further direction from the Council following its reconsideration of the proposed Weaver Dairy Road Improvement Project.
This the 25th day of February, 2002.