To reflect on the year, Chapelboro.com is re-publishing some of the top stories that impacted and defined our community’s experience in 2022. These stories and topics affected Chapel Hill, Carrboro and the rest of our region.
In 2021, the Town of Chapel Hill adopted its “Vision Zero Commitment”: a global strategy advocating for policies and infrastructure to limit — and eventually eliminate — vehicle collisions with pedestrians and bicyclists. The resolution approved by the town council puts forth several guidelines for staff and planners to keep in mind, including prioritizing “the safety of all road users” over just those in vehicles. As a result, Chapel Hill seized the chance to make some changes to improve safety — even after some tragedies early in the calendar year.
2022 began on a solemn note for many in the Chapel Hill community, as a pair of teenaged pedestrians were struck by a driver while crossing Estes Drive on New Year’s Eve. The 13-year-old hit by the car sustained “life-threatening injuries” that caused her to be hospitalized for weeks and to undergo intensive physical therapy all year, while the 14-year-old struck suffered “serious injuries” and recovered from home. Police charged the driver, a 69-year-old woman from Durham, with Failure to Yield to Pedestrian in a Clearly Marked Crosswalk or Regular Pedestrian Crossing — one of 33 such charges in town during 2021.
As a result, the local schools community, Estes Drive residents and safety advocates flooded the emails of Chapel Hill Town Council members asking for change. A group of protestors gathered along Estes Drive on January 7 where the collision happened, holding up signs asking drivers to slow down and be mindful of pedestrians.
Before the month was up, another collision captured the community’s attention — this time in downtown Chapel Hill. On January 25, Nicholas Watson was riding his bicycle west on West Franklin Street toward Graham Street. A driver in a parked vehicle opened up their door as Watson was passing, striking the bicyclist and throwing him onto the road. Watson was transported to UNC Hospitals, where he underwent treatment for severe head injuries and skull fractures, according to a Caring Bridge page. The Chapel Hill resident died on February 4 at the age of 43.
As of December 19, the Town of Chapel Hill reported 20 car crashes involving bicyclists in 2022. There have also been 15 crashes involving pedestrians — including a fatal one in September along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
In May, the Chapel Hill Town Council took steps to ensure what happened to Watson would have consequences for drivers if it happens again. While North Carolina is among the few states without a “dooring” ordinance, which means drivers who open their car doors into the paths of cyclists can be charged, there is now one locally. The town council unanimously approved its own dooring ordinance on May 4 after suggestions from the bicycling community and safety advocates.
In addition to policy changes, the Town of Chapel Hill was able to address some infrastructure deficiencies for bicycle and pedestrian safety. With the North Carolina Department of Transportation repaving West Franklin Street over the summer, the town government requested bicycle lane designs be painted onto the road. Parts of the new lanes are in the “curb-running” style, which directs bicyclists to ride between the sidewalk curb and parked cars — meant to create less risk than bicyclists being near moving vehicles. Chapel Hill painted the new lanes in September, with Carrboro also installing bicycle lanes along East Main Street as part of the repaving project.
A community member uses part of the bicycle lanes along West Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. (Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.)
Estes Drive is also undergoing significant changes meant to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety along the road. The months-long process of NCDOT adding an expanded sidewalk and bicycle lanes started in mid-March, with crews removing trees and soil along each side of Estes Drive to prepare for the additions. As of December, work to install stormwater infrastructure and relocate utility lines is still underway along the temporarily one-way road. A more short-term change: NCDOT installed a flashing pedestrian crossing, or an RRFB, at the North Estes Drive and Caswell Road crosswalk — with plans for more in the future once construction is complete.
Updates on the Estes Drive Connectivity Project can be found on the town’s webpage for the project, which is expected to be completed in fall 2023.
Some more immediate implementation of Vision Zero practices come from the Chapel Hill Police Department, which has conducted additional pedestrian safety enforcement operations and speed enforcement patrols throughout 2022 to monitor the actions of motorists.
Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.
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