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FOR THE RECORD

Posted on October 7, 2010October 13, 2010 by Staff

Right call on Smith Level

After decades of negotiation, a deal is finally in hand on improvements to Smith Level Road from the Morgan Creek bridge to Ray Road. The project includes new bikes lanes, sidewalks, improved signals and turn lanes and a roundabout at the Rock Haven intersection, which feeds Carrboro High.
Nearly all of these improvements are aimed at making one of the unfriendliest stretches to walk or bike into a far safer and more inviting place to do so.

Smith Level will change considerably in the years ahead, and how motorists behave on the road has to change as well. There is still a feeling among too many drivers that once you’ve crossed under the N.C. 54 overpass, it’s time to gun it.

And though it’s been more than a year since it changed not many folks seem to have noticed that the speed limit from town to past Dogwood Acres is 35 miles per hour with a 25-miles-per-hour school zone around CHS.

As happens with any big decision, some people walked away from last week’s meeting disappointed. The board, as the mayor put it, had a choice between making improvements that would serve a big part of the southern part of the town and pleasing residents of Berryhill, who will most certainly see a major shift in how traffic flows in and out of their neighborhood.

The victory for Carrboro in the negotiations with the N.C. Department of Transportation is a plan that eschews more vehicle lanes and focuses on alternative transit. Bicycling, walking and using the bus system are all bound to get easier. And with the addition of a planned greenway under the Morgan Creek bridge, the prospect of walking to Frank Porter Graham will open up for more students in neighborhoods west of Smith Level.

The struggle to come up with a workable plan took far longer than anyone expected and we trust whatever transportation tussle comes next will be resolved in a considerably shorter span.

That there seems to be a shift in the DOT toward a less car-centric outlook and greater cooperation with local governments should make getting to “yes” all the more likely.

Made his mark

You can find the work of Arthur Cogswell throughout the heart of Chapel Hill in neighborhoods like Morgan Creek, Mason Farm and Lakewood, where his modern designs are prime examples of an architectural renaissance that sought a greater harmony between the homes of this town and the hills and creek valleys in which they’re nestled.

Cogswell, who passed away last week, leaves not only a physical legacy, but also one of ideas. He mentored many of this area’s best architects and led inspired efforts to use design to advance humanitarian principles.

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