If you’ve driven by University Place in Chapel Hill recently, you might have noticed a little more color in the streets.
The town recently installed a new brightly colored blue and green pedestrian crosswalk.
Edward Hill is a Chapel Hill resident who lives nearby. “This is the first time right now that I’ve walked over it. I’m immediately caught by the color of it, it’s different from anything else I’ve seen anywhere,” said Hill.
The crosswalk, on Willow Drive near Estes Drive, is the first test for a new crosswalk project. If the paint from the crosswalk holds up with weather and traffic, the town plans to install more on Cameron and Rosemary Streets.
Guy Harrigan with Transpo Industries, who installed the crosswalk, said that Chapel Hill was one of the first towns in the country to have these “designer crosswalks.”
“It’s mainly designed for brightening the pavement walkway, making it safe for the pedestrian to cross the pathway as far as cars, and motorists get high visibility,” said Harrigan.
Hill agrees that the crosswalk will encourage drivers to be more cautious.
“It’s catchy enough where you don’t drive right over it,” said Hill.
The color of the crosswalk certainly stands out more than the standard black and white stripes.
“It’s very pretty though and I think it’s a beautiful thing to the town to have as long as everybody understands it,” said Hill.
The town plans to install more colorful crosswalks in the coming year but they won’t all be blue and green. Artists are asked to submit designs to be included in future crosswalks.
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