Community engagement is underway for future bicycle lanes along one of the busiest streets in Chapel Hill.
The town government is asking for feedback of several design options for new bike lanes on West Cameron Avenue, running from South Merritt Mill Road to Columbia Street. After launching a survey and engagement page on its website at the end of March, Chapel Hill is hosting an open house on the project at Town Hall on Thursday evening.
Town staff are seeking the community’s opinion on three options that would create protected lanes along the north, south, or both sides of the road. Among the considerations for style and traffic flow, impact to the driveways and intersections, bus stops along the road, and potential for more metered street parking.
Alternative 1 for Chapel Hill’s West Cameron Avenue bicycle lanes, which feature the lanes facing each other and running on the north side of the road. (Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill/McAdams.)
Alternative 2 for Chapel Hill’s West Cameron Avenue bicycle lanes would have similarly have the lanes facing each other, but running on the south side of the road. (Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill/McAdams.)
Alternative 3 for Chapel Hill’s West Cameron Avenue bicycle lanes would separate the east and west lanes, having them run in line with the vehicle traffic. (Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill/McAdams.)
Ben Berolzheimer is the mobility and greenways planner for the Town of Chapel Hill, and one of the key staff members working on the project. He said the improvements have been in the works for several years as the town tried to align OWASA’s water line replacement and securing federal funding with the timeline for the scheduled repaving of the street. West Cameron Avenue has long been a priority for improved bicycle infrastructure, he said, because it has some of the highest bicycle activity in North Carolina — as people use it as an east-west corridor to UNC campus and Carrboro.
“I think the commonality that people will see when they’re looking at the options is that they’re all protected,” Berolzheimer told Chapelboro of the concepts. “There will be some sort of physical separation, likely a concrete buffer in the road, [keeping] people on bikes from people using vehicles along Cameron Avenue.”
“I hope residents and people around town will get more and more familiar with [those buffers],” he later added. “That’s really the direction we’re headed [as a town.] All of the research and studies indicate that really the only way to create that safety we’re looking for in Chapel Hill is to physically separate people on bicycles and walking from people using cars.”
Berolzheimer pointed to one of those options, Alternative 1, offering additional protection by having the metered spaces on the north side running along the bicycle lane and shielding bicyclers from moving traffic. That option would also add the most parking spaces — a net positive of 14 — compared to Alternative 2 where the bicycle lane runs on the south side of the road and only seven more spaces are added to the north side.
Another potential side effect from the project: the North Carolina Department of Transportation approach Chapel Hill to see if it is worth exploring turning the West Cameron Avenue and South Merritt Mill Road into a roundabout. Berolzheimer said it would have to be a mini, “mountable”roundabout so bigger vehicles could drive straight over the curb if they cannot make the turn because of the space. The topic is included in the town survey and will also be part of Thursday’s open house. If the opportunity for a roundabout does resonate with residents, Berolzheimer said the town would further study whether it is truly viable to have there. The addition would add expenses to the project, he said, and would be done alongside the bicycle lanes’ construction.
A potential roundabout concept for the West Cameron Avenue and South Merritt Mill Road intersection. (Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill/McAdams.)
Whether a roundabout is added, though, Chapel Hill will aim to make some updates to the intersection to improve signage to the Libba Cotten Bikeway and encourage pedestrian safety. Berolzheimer described the goal as simply improving the infrastructure to make it work for all users of the corridor.
“We recognize that [the intersection] gets a bit confusing for pedestrians, with people getting on and off the Libba Cotten Bikeway there,” said the town planner. “There’s not a lot of clear signage or infrastructure that indicates exactly what you should do. Whatever ends up being there, we just want to make sure it’s clear and safe for everyone.”
Following the engagement period for the project, town staff will take the community’s comments and weigh them with the town’s long-term vision for how people navigate around Chapel Hill, Vision Zero goals, property impacts and utility challenges. From there, they will make a recommendation to the Chapel Hill town manager on which preferred option to go with and move forward to build out the full design. The design process, which is being done with McAdams, will take roughly a year and construction on the bicycle lanes is tentatively set for the summer or fall of 2026.
Thursday’s open house at the Chapel Hill Town Hall will run from 6 to 8 p.m. on the first floor. The survey on the future West Cameron Avenue bicycle lanes will be open through Friday, April 25.
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