When construction crews broke ground on the Estes Drive Connectivity Project in March 2022, the estimated completion date was summer 2023.
Nearly a year past that initial goal, the Town of Chapel Hill is now pointing toward the end of spring for when the extensive road work should be complete and are optimistic few opportunities for delays remain.
Among the many projects Chapel Hill Town Manager Chris Blue and his staff are closely tracking, the Estes Drive Connectivity Project has been toward the top of the list. He said, if for any reason, it is because the town has had to coordinate with more than a dozen major stakeholders who rely on the road and the land underneath it.
“I think if you were going to point to a project that had the maximum number of involved stakeholders,” he said, “you couldn’t point to something where that’s [truer] than Estes Drive.”
North Carolina’s Department of Transportation owns the road, and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School system has two campuses along North Estes Drive. OWASA, Duke Energy and Dominion Energy all have utility lines that run under or beside the street. Meanwhile, internet and fiber companies like AT&T, Google, Spectrum, American Tower and Segra all have infrastructure under the ground.
Blue said the major reconstruction of the road – to widen, install new sidewalks, and repave – offered a chance to loop in those other stakeholders. Some were brought in to make sure their infrastructure was not damaged by the construction crews, while others used the opportunity to address repairs and upgrades to their lines. Involving all of those groups led to inevitable slowdowns, said the town manager, but it could prevent Estes Drive being torn up again in the short term.
“We’re feeling pretty good about that project after some pretty significant delays – almost all of those related things that we learned once you dig the road up,” said Blue. “When you get in there and you find out there’s a problem with this utility or this piece of infrastructure, you want to do it right. That’s an investment on the future and hopefully minimizes the number of times we’ll need to dig it back up going forward.”
“So, these delays have been frustrating, for sure,” he added, “but they’ve also been necessary to getting a quality project.”
That long-term gain has certainly resulted in short-term pain for the hundreds of Chapel Hill residents who live near the road and have seen their lives affected by prolonged construction.
“So many folks have said, ‘I can’t get deliveries to my door, people don’t know how to get here, I have company coming over and they’re concerned about detours,’” said Blue. “We get it – and we cannot imagine how frustrating that must be. [But] the end is near. Once done, that is going to be a much safer corridor for people to use. Traffic flow is going to be enhanced, and folks on bikes, using strollers, walking dogs and jogging are going to be in a location [along the road] that’s much safer for them.”
A rendering of how westbound Estes Drive will look beginning at Caswell Road following the completion of the Estes Drive Connectivity Project. (Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.)
Cars travel eastbound on North Estes Drive, as construction crews work on the south side of the road on March 17, 2024. The north side’s extended sidewalk is already finished, as seen here on the right.
Estes Drive is just one of several concurrent projects in Chapel Hill that are not only high-profile, but also long running. Perhaps the most visible is the construction of the East Rosemary Parking Deck downtown, which has hit its own set of delays. Right next to Estes Drive is the developing Booth Park project – formerly known as the Aura Chapel Hill neighborhood – and the town government has another major transportation safety project underway along Homestead Road, which will bring new bicycle lanes and sidewalks.
Blue acknowledged that with overlapping ventures and timelines that spanned years, construction can feel never-ending to some community members.
“It’s hard to get away from these projects, and that’s not lost on us,” he said. “On the other hand, taking the long view: these are all things that are going to help our community be more accessible for everyone, safer for everyone. And so, we thank people for their patience. Know that – at least with respect to those projects – the end is in sight and we’re just as excited as you are.”
This week, Chapel Hill community members will see continued work on new curbs and gutters along the south side of Estes Drive – as well as concrete and asphalt installations for sidewalks along the road. But before long, the construction vehicles will be gone, the road will have two-way traffic again, and new infrastructure will offer safer ways to travel along North Estes Drive.
More about the Estes Drive Connectivity Project, including the latest weekly updates, can be found on the Town of Chapel Hill website.
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May 2024 completion? It’s May 5th today. There is no way this project is done this month. I drive that road all the time. I almost never see anyone working out there. Unless massive crews are going to be out there full time, this project won’t be done until 2025 at an absolute minimum.