At the February 9th Town Council meeting, Town Transportation Planner Bergan Waterson presented the status of various pedestrian and cyclist safety measures and programs. Watch the video of her presentation here.
Among the updates shared were several measures being taken to improve safety on Estes Drive. These were proposed by parents, teachers, students and neighbors at a meeting with senior NC DOT, Town, and school officials on January 24th after two middle-schoolers were seriously injured in a crosswalk by an SUV. One of the girls remains in critical condition. Read about the meeting, and the changes requested by these community members, here.
Organizers found officials in attendance to be responsive to the tragic collision prompting the meeting and to the community’s requests for safety measures. Chapel Hill Town Manager Maurice Jones has responded affirmatively to many of the measures requested. Read his responses to the community letter below, or download the full memo here:Town Manager Estes Update, January 28, 2022
| Community Request | Town Manager Response |
| Install radar speed signs in both directions where the current school zone begins. Currently there is a radar speed sign for eastbound traffic only. | The staff has ordered two enhanced radar speed signs to be placed along both lanes of traffic. |
| Install a low cost, temporary flashing pedestrian beacon at the western Caswell/Estes crosswalk (near the tennis courts) until a Hawk light is installed there as part of Town’s Estes Connectivity Project. As noted, a vehicle recently hit two middle school student girls in this crosswalk. | Two Rapid Rectangular Flashing Beacon (RRFB) devices have been ordered and will be installed at the Caswell Crosswalk and the Somerset Crosswalk. |
| Install a Hawk light at the Granville/Estes crosswalk near the Chapel Hill Library entrance. This crosswalk, regularly used by school children and others, lacks any kind of signalization, and lies outside the scope of the Estes Connectivity Project. | Staff and NCDOT are reviewing this request and will have a response soon. |
| Re-program the stoplight at the Estes-MLK intersection so that the pedestrian walk signal occurs *before* vehicles on southbound MLK Boulevard are invited (by a flashing orange turn arrow) to turn left onto Estes Drive. A pedestrian in this crosswalk was hit last week by a vehicle while turning left from MLK Boulevard. | This request is being evaluated by Town staff and NCDOT. |
| Convert the existing 25 MPH school zone on North Estes Drive, which currently applies during specific weekday hours, to a full-time 25 MPH zone. | NCDOT will be conducting a speed study to determine the feasibility of this request. |
Neighbors are encouraged by the constructive actions taken to date by Town and DOT officials to improve the safety of pedestrians on this busy road.
Several CHALT supporters worked with Estes neighbors to organize a January 28th meeting with town and state officials to identify interim safety improvements for Estes Drive in the school zone. This post originally appeared on the CHALT website and is reposted here.
