Carrboro Moves Forward With Sidewalk Construction on S. Greensboro Street

 

The Town of Carrboro has approved a new transportation project that will ultimately lead to new sidewalks on South Greensboro Street.

At their meeting last week, Carrboro’s town council gave an update on the development and conceptual plans for the South Greensboro Street sidewalk.

The sidewalk will be constructed on one side of South Greensboro Street from the northern end of Old Pittsboro Road to the NC-54 eastbound off-ramp, and on to the Public Works driveway.

According to the town, this new development will contribute to a safer and more comfortable walking environment for pedestrians traveling north and south on South Greensboro Street and underneath NC-54 bypass.

While the project is slowly moving forward, Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle said some conceptual designs are still undetermined at this time.

“We’ve kind of hit a place in the project where we need to decide for sure which side of the road that the sidewalk is going to be on,” Lavelle said. “There are pros and cons to each side. One side is more expensive, but there’s opportunity on both sides. So we’re hearing from people on both sides pros and cons about where it should be.”

Carrboro town staff initially held a public input session in late September to help determine the future sidewalk location. Now, the town council is planning another public input session for January to decide between two alternative designs.

“It could be convenient for either side I think,” Lavelle said. “So we want to get some information back from our town staff about how the folks who will actually be using it a lot feel about it.”

Lavelle said this this development will provide access to downtown transit services for residents along South Greensboro Street and Smith Level Road – including access to the J bus stop on South Greensboro Street across from Rand Road.

“I know the council will carefully weigh out how accessible it will be for the majority of folks – and then the cost is not a trivial matter either,” Lavelle said.

The engineer for the sidewalk project estimates that it will cost nearly $1.5 million dollars to construct the sidewalk on the west side of the street and $1.9 million dollars to construct on the east side. The current project budget is more than $1.7 million dollars.

According to the Town of Carrboro’s website, construction of the South Greensboro Street sidewalk will be authorized in April of 2021.

Find more information on the South Greensboro Street sidewalk here.

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