Estes Neighbors has shared the results of the Aura developer’s traffic impact analysis that establishes that despite Town turning lane improvements at Estes/MLK, most traffic after Aura will indeed still be worse than present conditions.
The Town held a well attended May 3rd public viewing of the Town-Wide traffic model which seemed to demonstrate that nearly all new traffic could be handled by a stoplight at Somerset Drive. See more about the traffic model here. Later we learned the Chapel Hill Mayor and most Council members were reassured by this demonstration and some council members no longer were concerned about traffic on Estes Drive!
Fast forward to the May 26th public hearing. Chuck Edwards, Orange County District engineer for the NC DOT attended and said in so many words that attaining a stoplight or round about at Somerset would be hard to do. Estes Neighbors asked for a followup conference with Mr Edwards to clarify his answers. The memo is here. Memorandum.Edwards.JUNE6
In brief, what we learned is that there will not be a solution for Estes Drive such as a stoplight or roundabout for years. Further, the unsafe full access Estes entrance to Aura cannot be corrected until this occurs. We conclude that the only way to ensure a traffic light is installed eventually is to get commitments from Trinsic, the Aura developer, now before the Town Council considers granting their permit.
If the Council were to approve the application as presently configured, there would be no incentive for the Texas developer in the future to help solve the access problems for the surrounding property owners who also have plans to develop.
Reason enough for the Town Council to turn down the Aura permit or at least delay the vote until agreements for a comprehensive Estes traffic plan are made!
Can anyone provide information on why the town’s environmental committee gave AURA a pass? It looks like AURA will be a heat island.
The Environmental Stewardship Advisory Board approved the AURA project on a split vote with many conditions attached. If those conditions has actually been discussed and implemented by the Planning Commission and had been taken seriously by the Council, the final would have looked very different. It is remarkable how little the advice and counsel of advisory boards matters..