The Town of Chapel Hill recently held a public information session about the upcoming construction of the Estes Drive Connectivity Project. This project includes raised bike lanes, a new sidewalk and a multiuse path.
The Estes Drive Connectivity Project is a federally-funded project with 80 percent of funding coming from the federal government and a 20 percent local match.
Bergen Watterson, the transportation planning manager for the Town of Chapel Hill, spoke at the public information session. She said the project has been under design for six years.
Watterson said on the south side of the road, where Amity Church and the YMCA are, there will be a five-foot sidewalk and a six-foot bike lane.
“This bike lane is behind the curb,” Watterson said. “It’s almost more like a multi-use path. Its not in the street, the bikes will be above the curb away from the cars.”
On the north side of the road, which includes the Chapel Hill Public Library, two schools and the planned Aura development, there will be a five-foot bike lane and a ten-foot multiuse path.
Town staff said crosswalks will also be installed along Estes Drive. These will be placed at the Somerset and Estes intersection in addition to the Caswell and Estes intersection. Watterson said once the Aura development is built there will be a crosswalk installed at the site driveway
The preconstruction meeting will be held at the end of the August. Construction on the project – beginning with clearing and grading of the area and utility relocation – is set for September. The expected timeline of the project is 15 to 18 months.
The proposed design for the westbound section of the Estes Drive Connectivity Project (Photo via Town of Chapel Hill)
To combat traffic congestion, Watterson said the project includes installing an additional left-hand turn lane on Estes Drive to turn onto Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard using the existing right of way on the north side of Estes Drive. The town also acquired right of way on the south side of Estes Drive.
“The traffic analysis that we’ve done and the traffic analysis that was done at length for the Aura project shows that this will do a tremendous amount for the congestion at that intersection,” Watterson said. “In addition we’re installing right-hand turn lanes in both directions on MLK [Boulevard] to help with the congestion.”
Construction will begin on the north side of Estes Drive and during this, Watterson said Estes Drive will become a one-way traffic pattern from MLK Boulevard to Caswell Road.
“You’ll be able to travel eastbound – so from MLK [Boulevard] towards Franklin without any problem,” Watterson said. “That lane will not be closed, it will be open the whole time, say for an occasional bringing in some big thing that needs to be installed, but for the most part it will be open so there’s none of that taking a gamble to see if you’re going to get stopped by the flagger or not. Its open and its predictable.”
Watterson said there is not yet a date for when Estes Drive will become a one-way road and there are also no plans to close Estes Drive completely.
Lead photo via Town of Chapel Hill
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Chapel Hill Moves Forward With Estes Drive Connectivity Project, Construction Set For September - Chapelboro.com
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