CHALT Analysis of the Chapel Hill Mobility and Connectivity Plan
In summary, overall the “Plan” is a very good account of the mobility and connection needs of Chapel Hill residents. Overall, the Plan’s focus on the 5 main road corridors in Chapel Hill and the concept of interconnecting existing Greenways into an off-road bike/pedestrian network of 6 paths is exceptionally good.
However, noting that the document is still a draft, there are a few significant flaws that need to be addressed before the document is finalized and presented to Town Council. Here they are:
A. The Plan does not address the needs of parents of school children that form massive traffic jams weekday mornings as they drop off their children for school and then pick them up again mid-afternoon. The Plan does not specifically call out solutions to make it safe for children to walk/bike to local schools.
B. The Plan recommends making significant use of “buffered bike lanes” along main corridors as well as secondary arteries, e.g. Estes Dr, Ephesus Church Rd.; this is not acceptable. Buffered bike lanes will never be acceptable to parents of school age children or seniors citizens on any streets with speed limits faster than 25 mph. The ability of a vehicle to stop rapidly when faced with a rider error is negligible as vehicle speed exceeds 25 mph and the prospect of getting a flat or crashing due to trash that collects along the curb of roads with significant traffic is too high. Even the consultant picture on P. 33 describing buffered bike lanes shows trash in the bike lane along the curb!
C. The Plan “Priority Projects” list of 20 proposals does not take into account either the cost of the recommendations or the time frame when Priority Projects need to be completed based on associated development/redevelopment completion schedules. Thus true priorities can not be determined.
D. Several of the maps provided in the draft plan are essentially illegible on a home computer screen and thus review of the corresponding proposals was impossible.E. The linkage to the real goal of reducing vehicle trips and thus vehicle ownership by making walking and biking for all ages safe and convenient is missing.