Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
The Carrboro Board of Aldermen talked bicycle transportation, greenways, helmets and more on Tuesday during a work session to review the Bicycle Transportation Plan.
Carrboro received a Comprehensive Bicycle Planning Grant from the North Carolina Department of Transportation in May 2007 to create the Bicycle Transportation Plan, which has been developed by staff with the help of Greenways Incorporated.
The plan includes a bicycle network project, with paved shoulders, bicycle lanes, sharrows, sidepaths and off-road trails at identified road corridors, intersections and greenway corridors. The changes are intended to help provide access to schools, greenways, downtown and other business zoning, bicycle facilities, high-density residential areas and more.
“All of these different components are important to a more bicycle-friendly community,†Carrboro transportation planner Adena Messinger said.
The plan identifies 10 priority corridor segments for improvements, including one or more sections of Smith Level Road, Estes Drive, Homestead Road, South Greensboro Street, Old Fayetteville Road, Old Hwy. 86, Shelton Street and North Greensboro Street.
Board member Dan Coleman said he would like to see the board go beyond plan implementation and consider a helmet law for cyclists.
“I’m interested in seeing whether we can move forward with things like the helmet law,†he said. “I’d like to see us kind of dig into that a little more quickly when we start getting into implementation.â€
Board member Randee Haven-O’Donnell agreed.
“I see so many people out there riding without helmets,†she said.
Coleman added that he would like the plan to also address the issue of bicycles riding alongside stopped or slow-moving cars in traffic.
“It’s a very dangerous situation,†he said, suggesting that the town add signs or markings indicating that bikes should remain in the lane with the vehicles.
Mayor Mark Chilton said he would like the board to work with other local governments to connect Carrboro bicycle corridors to other parts of the county, adding that he specifically would like to identify a route from Carrboro to Hillsborough.
Messinger said she would like residents to voice their concerns or support for the plan, saying that there is still an opportunity to make adjustments to the plan. The finalized plan will be presented to the board for approval early next year.
The public comment period on the plan closes Nov. 7. The entire draft plan is available online at greenways.com/pages/CarrboroBicycleDraftPlan.html.
This is just more pork for downtown Carrboro!!!
The northern transition area bikeway projects are way down the priority list, what a shocker that is.
This is just another example of the Northern Carrboro folks financially supporting the BOA plans in their sacred little downtown. They are wasting the income they get from the citizens who are burdened with the highest property taxes in the state.
How about cutting the budget and giving the working folks a tax break instead of more and more money wasted on bike lanes that serve a minority?
This will put money in everyone’s pockets.