Chapel Hill community members of all ages gathered with bikes, scooters, and strollers at Estes Hills Elementary on Saturday morning to enjoy North Estes Drive’s pedestrian improvements that are now complete after two years of construction.
Both on foot and on wheels, parents, children, and other Chapel Hill residents paraded along Estes Drive’s wider sidewalks for the community Roll and Stroll.
The road had closed to two-way traffic as part of the Estes Drive Connectivity Project, which aims to provide bicyclist, pedestrian, and vehicle improvements along the popular road. The updates also included raised bike lanes, crosswalks, and turn lanes.
The parade route expanded between Estes Hills Elementary to Phillips Middle, two schools that were especially impacted by the construction. Attendees decorated their bikes, scooters, and strollers at a craft table ahead of the parade, which kicked off with the chant: “go bike, go ped, go Estes Drive.”
Megan Foureman’s family joined the pedestrian crowd for the stroll. She said the event brought needed attention to the Estes community that lives along the road.
“So many people view it as a speedway, and it’s just not,” she said. “There’s little humans, there’s little animals, there’s big people, there’s old people, there’s families, and we really need to do everything we can to turn this into a community spot, rather than a pass through.”
The longtime Estes resident said she has high hopes the road will now be safer for pedestrians and cyclists, but that she thinks it’s going to take commitment from the community to keep it that way.
“And really more policing along here because a lot of things happen that are never caught by the police, and I don’t know why there’s not just more ticketing along this road,” she explained. “I think that’s what it’s gonna take to get people’s attention and make them slow down.”
The community celebration also featured games, wheels, and prizes to both celebrate the project’s completion and promote road safety.
Chapel Hill Mayor Jess Anderson said while the project didn’t go as fast as hoped, she loves that the road was finished in time for the new school year, with students having started classes on Monday.
“It’s ready for our kiddos on bikes and walking, it’s ready for people to be able to walk up and catch the bus,” she said. “It’s really, really exciting, and I’m just thrilled to see people out on their bikes and walking on this amazing, amazing new project being done.”
The project is an effort towards the town’s Vision Zero commitments, which seeks to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2031. The improvements to North Estes especially prioritized vulnerable road users, or those who travel by way other than a car.
While the road officially opened to all forms of traffic on July 12, Chapel Hill’s Mobility and Greenways Manager Bergen Watterson said the town completed the work the night before the event with final pavement markings.
David Russo is the Board President of Boomerang Youth, a social-emotional learning program supporting Orange County middle and high schools. Boomerang is located along North Estes, and Russo said he’s happy the construction is finished because it was a pain to get to work every day.
“I have to admire Chapel Hill,” he added. “Anybody that can put together a parade simply celebrating the opening of a road, they’re my kind of people. Fire trucks, snowcones, and a whole bunch of happy community members celebrating a road opening? You gotta love this city.”
Barbara Walton said she travels the sidewalk about four times a week on her motorized chair. She’s a resident at Azalea Estates, a retirement community along North Estes that she said is delighted by the improvements. She described them as a “triumph for the city.”
Walton explained the new sidewalk is wide enough to where she can walk her dog, whom she brought with her to Saturday’s event, without feeling like she might get run over or interfere with others who are enjoying the pathway.
The Azalea Estates resident said while it was inconvenient to live in a construction zone, she recognized that good construction doesn’t happen instantaneously. She said residents have to be patient when changes are being made for the better.
“I think it’s part of being an adult,” she added. “You look at situations and say ‘What’s my role in this?’ And my role was to be patient and encouraging, and also tell others ‘It will be okay. Just wait, you’ll see.’ And that was my attitude at the retirement community.”
And Walton said she’s looking forward to future town improvements and safety measures for pedestrians.
Watterson said the town is currently entering the design and engineering phase on a few projects that will continue building the connected off road bicycle and pedestrian network. For example, adding protected bike lanes along Cameron Avenue and extending the existing trail from Umstead Park to Estes Drive Extension.
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