In response to more residents biking and walking during the pandemic, the Town of Chapel Hill is pursuing an experimental way to improve pedestrian safety.
The town installed its first temporary in-road ‘street path’ earlier this month. This 6-foot wide pathway is marked off with tape, traffic cones and signage and stretches from Cedar Falls Park to the Booker Creek Greenway via Honeysuckle Road and Booker Creek Road.
Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger recently spoke to 97.9 The Hill’s Brighton McConnell about the town’s desire to try out the idea.
“We’ve noticed that people are out and about more, either by bike, by jogging, or by foot,” Hemminger said. “And we want to have some safer ways for them to do that since there’s no sidewalks in that part of the neighborhood.”
The new in-road street path is by no means the first of the town’s efforts to make conditions safer for pedestrians over the course of the pandemic. Last summer, one lane of Franklin Street was closed off to provide more space for social distancing and to encourage restaurants to expand their outdoor seating. The town deemed the project such a success that it remained through the New Year and is still in use today.
The town solicited public ideas for the location of the street path last summer and fall. Now, depending on the public feedback received about the project through an online survey, the town may install more on several other roads in the community and consider making them permanent.
Additional questions about the street path may be directed to Transportation Planning Manager Bergen Watterson at bwatterson@townofchapelhill.org.
Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.
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