A project to build a sidepath to Fordham Boulevard in Chapel Hill has been in the works since 2016. While some residents have been outspoken against the development, the Town Council shared some of its own comments on Wednesday night.
Representatives from Chapel Hill’s Transportation department presented two design options at the center of the Fordham Sidepath project. The first would construct a paved greenway from Ridgefield Road to Willow Drive, connecting with the existing path from Cleland Drive to Ridgefield. The second is a shared street method, turning Ridgefield and Hickory Drive into a more bike-friendly area that would lead to Willow.
Some residents of the Little Ridgefield neighborhood prefer the second option, saying the street already works as a cut-through for pedestrians and bikers despite no path existing. At the many public input meetings the town has held since 2018, additional concerns have been raised about the paved sidepath option. Potential path-users’ safety from turning cars as they cross Ridgefield Road, an increase in noise pollution and the destruction of the vegetative buffer between backyards and Fordham Boulevard were all brought to the town.
In the presentation to council, town representatives had some proposals to address those issues. They proposed replacing as much vegetation as possible on both sides of the path, with an estimated four or five years to return an equivalent to the current buffer. A noise study along the thoroughfare has already been completed, but another is scheduled for the summer. The town also offered to build six-foot fencing in the backyard of any resident who requests it along the pathway.
Many town council members voiced their support of the initial design of a paved greenway, citing these proposals to the neighborhood’s concerns as the start of a happy medium. Another reason cited for wanting the paved path is the Department of Transportation has already awarded $1.8 million to complete a sidepath network in the region, including on both sides of Fordham. If a true sidepath is not built in the project, the town risks losing that funding, some of which has already been spent on projects.
Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger spoke to this issue Wednesday night.
“We want people out of their cars, we want people to be safe,” she said. “I don’t want to give up the opportunity and we may never get it built if we don’t go with the DOT plan. They have been cutting projects already, but this one is guaranteed [in funding].”
Council member Amy Ryan agreed the new sidepath option is her preference, saying she believes it has a larger benefit to the community. But she did request careful removal of the vegetation in the buffer to try and preserve as much as possible.
“There’s different ways to go in and cut things,” said Ryan. “I’d like to make sure we have someone from staff going out and identifying things we specifically don’t want cut. [We want to make sure] when whoever is contracted to do the work, we have people on-site making sure they’re cutting what they’re supposed to and not one thing more than they have to.”
The Fordham Sidepath project is scheduled to return to the Town Council for a vote to approve a design on March 4.
Photo via Town of Chapel Hill.
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