Light Rail Station Planning Workshops Begin Wednesday in Chapel Hill

The Town of Chapel Hill is moving further along in the process towards brining light rail to the Triangle.

In a joint effort with GoTriangle, the Town of Chapel Hill is bringing in experts to help create new land-use plans for areas surrounding future light-rail stations. These experts would help the town in a series of workshops set between Wednesday, February 22 and Monday, February 27. Between Durham and Chapel Hill there are seven areas that are currently being evaluated. Gateway Planning’s Scott Polikov said it would ultimately be up to the council whether they wanted to accept any possible plans created during these workshops.

“What we come up with is an exploration of ideas and input for potential development and land use,” Polikov said. “What we come up with is not locked in stone at all.”

Advocates say the addition of light rail to the Triangle could bring an economic boost to the areas surrounding light-rail stations. The planning workshops will attempt to balance the priorities of the town, the county and residents in these areas. It will look at issues such as affordable housing and retail and office space, but Polikov said the focus will be on improving walkability.

“There’s no guarantee that GoTriangle will be successful, but the town will still be here,” Polikov said. “And so the land-use strategies need to work independent of the transit.

“And that’s why we’re going to talk a lot about walkable places because walkability works really well with transit, but it works really well if you don’t have a lot of transit either.”

Throughout the week there will be opportunities for the public to see the progress made during the workshops. The town will host multiple “check ins,” where the public can provide input. The work will culminate in a meeting held February 27, where the group will present the results of the workshops.

“Anybody who would like to come and talk to us is welcome to,” Polikov said.

Those who cannot attend any of the “check ins” will have the opportunity to send messages through GoTriangle’s website.