Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect the new start date for construction.

After months of delays, construction on Chapel Hill’s Estes Drive Connectivity Project is set to begin on Wednesday, March 16.

Town government officials announced an construction start date on Tuesday before adjusting the timeline due to expected rainy weather. Work had originally been slated to begin in late summer of 2021 but got delayed, partly to prevent disrupting an underground gas line during the cold winter months.

Phase 1 of the project will involve clearing and grading on the corner of Estes Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, with temporary lane closures around the intersection to allow crews to do their work. That phase is projected to last for two to three weeks.

When Phase 2 begins in April, traffic on Estes Drive will be reduced to one-way only: eastbound from Somerset Drive to Caswell Road by Phillips Middle School and Estes Hills Elementary. That one-way pattern will remain in place between MLK and Caswell until the project is completed, which is expected to take about a year. Traffic will be detoured onto Weaver Dairy Road or Franklin Street.

A later phase of construction for the Estes Drive Connectivity Project will see traffic reduced to one-way only on the road. This portion of the project is expected to begin in April 2022. (Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.)

The $2.6 million project is slated to construct sidewalks, crossing and intersection improvements as well as raised bike lanes along Estes Drive. About 80 percent of the funding will come from the federal government, with the Town of Chapel Hill and the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO covering the rest. On the north side of the road, which includes the planned Aura development as well as the two schools, there will be a five-foot bike lane and a ten-foot multiuse path. The south side of Estes will get a new sidewalk.

Plans for the Estes Drive Connectivity Project have been in the works for more than a decade — dating back to 2009, when federal funds were first allocated for bicycle improvements along the road. More recently, local residents have urged the town to make bike and pedestrian safety a priority on the increasingly busy road, especially in the wake of a crash on New Year’s Eve that seriously injured two teenage pedestrians. That crash occurred along the stretch of Estes Drive where the Connectivity Project is set to get under way.

The Town of Chapel Hill says Dominion Energy customers in the area of the construction are not expected to experience natural gas service disruptions, despite the relocation of a gas pipeline as part of the project. Customers who have questions are encouraged to contact the local Dominion Energy representative or call the customer care line at 1-877-776-2427 for account questions or emergencies.

Click here to learn more about the Estes Drive Connectivity Project.

 

Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.

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