The Walker Street Improvements Project is about 75 percent complete with attention turning toward finishing touches. Underground utility work is complete, including an upgraded water line network, new stormwater system and reinforced sanitary sewer system. Decorative traffic signal equipment and streetlights complementing downtown have been installed. Next steps include completing paving and installing brick pavers and planting areas. Walker Street is anticipated to be open to traffic in the spring, and the project is anticipated to be complete later this summer.

The Carpenter Fire Station Road Bridge and Intersection Improvement Project is more than 50 percent complete. Staff members continue to coordinate with CSX Railroad and the contractor to ensure bridge construction remains on schedule. The contractor is developing a mock wall system as a baseline to ensure appearance, including color and texture of the walls, is consistent with plans and specifications. These concrete walls will support the CSX railroad tracks over the new roadway and incorporate colored concrete with an architectural stone texture appearance that has been coordinated with the State Historic Preservation Office to complement the historic and rural character of Carpenter. The project will be complete in summer 2022. 

Work on the Carpenter Fire Station Road Widening Project continued during the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff held virtual meetings to collaborate with the design consultant and other stakeholders as construction plans developed. The NC Department of Transportation approved the preliminary design, including a street side trail on the south side of the road and traffic signals at Cameron Pond Drive and Highcroft Drive. Other design components, including drainage and utility relocations, are expected to be complete this summer with the right of way acquisition phase beginning later this year. 

Chapel Hill Road extends through the northern portion of downtown but has a different look and feel than other downtown streets. Currently, Chapel Hill Road’s width alternates from wide to narrow throughout the corridor with sporadic sidewalks and no bicycle accommodations. The lack of existing facilities generates many questions for property owners, renters and potential developers. Moving forward, the street’s design should complement the downtown identity and reflect the character of the area. The Chapel Hill Road Mobility Study will provide certainty for residents and a shared community vision for the corridor.

Cary initiated the year-long mobility study in March. The Imagine Cary Community Plan currently proposes that Chapel Hill Road be widened to a four-lane street with center median between NW Maynard Road and NE Maynard Road. The primary goal of the study is to identify the “right-size” for the Chapel Hill Road corridor that balances the needs of all users and continues to serve as a gateway into downtown. The street’s design should connect neighborhoods, schools and businesses and provide residents mobility choices.

Multiple public outreach tools, surveys and meetings will be utilized to reach residents and stakeholders. Currently, a five-question survey is available on Cary’s website to gather preliminary information on how Chapel Hill Road operates today. Next steps include forming an inter-departmental team and assessing existing conditions, including transportation, utilities, historic resources and environmental features.

Crossroads Junction Project

NCDOT is planning to re-build the I-40/I-440/U.S. 1/U.S. 64 interchange to relieve congestion and address the heavy traffic volumes flowing through the area. An open house was held in May 2019 to receive public feedback on three preliminary designs. Each design alternative proposes to relocate the U.S. 1 northbound, U.S 64 eastbound and associated on/off ramps westward to Piney Plains Road and remove the Crossroads Plaza on ramp. NCDOT’s consultant, Global Atkins, completed the traffic study and presented several traffic alternatives for the study team to consider. Cary staff will evaluate these alternatives and provide comments back to NCDOT prior to final selection. NCDOT plans to hold another public meeting in late 2020. The project is expected to begin in 2024. 

Trinity Road Grade Separation

This grade separation project rose through the state’s Transportation Improvement Program based on a need to eliminate conflicting rail-highway movements at the existing at-grade railroad crossing on Trinity Road near East Chatham Street. NCDOT has indicated they will be moving forward with the environmental analysis for the Trinity Road grade separation project. An interdepartmental staff team, along with Cary’s consultant VHB and staff from the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization met to review both of NCDOT’s proposed bridge alignments and their impacts on WakeMed Soccer Park, including access, parking capacity and recreational infrastructure, connections to Fenton and the development potential for future office. As a result of this analysis, the team has developed a hybrid conceptual alignment, which Cary staff submitted to NCDOT for consideration and review. 

As part of its environmental work, NCDOT is also planning a virtual public meeting to receive public input on the conceptual alignments and reached out to Cary staff for feedback on virtual strategies, which currently include a proposed video overview, meeting handout and online survey. Staff is working with NCDOT to schedule a conference call to further discuss virtual outreach in the coming weeks and continues to communicate with NC Rail staff to stay up to date on the project’s status. Construction is currently scheduled for 2024. 

NE Maynard Road Grade Separation

Similar to the Trinity Road Grade Separation Project, the NE Maynard Road Grade Separation Project was awarded funding in an effort to eliminate conflicting rail-highway movements at the at-grade railroad crossing on NE Maynard Road near its intersection with East Chatham Street. The proposed project is designed to improve vehicular mobility and safety. NCDOT developed two preliminary alternatives and is working toward selection of its preferred alternative, which is currently planned for May 2020. Once a preferred alternative is selected, NCDOT will update the design and prepare for the next public meeting, tentatively planned for mid to late summer 2020 depending on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. While NCDOT is pursuing virtual meetings for some projects, they want to ensure the format of this meeting is accessible for all stakeholders within the project limits, including neighboring Hispanic residents who have been very engaged in the process. NCDOT will invite input and comments on their preferred alternative at the next public meeting, which will be followed by completion of the environmental document, tentatively scheduled for the end of 2020. Right of way acquisition is scheduled to begin in 2022, followed by construction in 2024. 

Contractors for Cary started demolition and construction for two pedestrian improvement projects at signalized intersections: Tryon Road at New Waverly Place and Keisler Drive, and at Kildaire Farm Road at Lochmere Drive. This project includes adding pedestrian crosswalks and signals, green time for left turns and pedestrian curb ramp upgrades. This project will improve connectivity between land uses, complete missing connections in our sidewalk network, provide safer left-turn movements for drivers and pedestrians and improve on deficiencies in our pedestrian curb ramps used by our residents. 

The project began in March 2020 and is expected to be complete in May 2020. The contractor has been practicing strict social distancing and sanitation policies since their entire project has occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cary has monitored traffic volumes since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to determine the impact of stay-at-home orders on travel. The NC Department of Transportation is using the data to help with operational decisions statewide. As an early adopter of stay-at-home practices, Cary has seen some of the greatest reduction in traffic across the state. Traffic volumes fell quickly after schools closed and social distancing orders were put into place in mid-March, and traffic volumes remained at levels below 50 percent of typical volumes.

The Cary traffic signal system continued to grow in Q3. During the first three months of 2020, new traffic signals or new operational capabilities of existing traffic signals were installed at the following intersections:

• New traffic signals added at Davis Drive at Holly Creek Road and Airport Boulevard at McCrimmon Boulevard 
• New CCTV cameras installed at Davis Drive at Holly Creek Road and Aviation Parkway at the I-40 eastbound ramp
• Signalized pedestrian detection added on McCrimmon Parkway at Aviation Parkway and Airport Boulevard
• Other improvements, including the installation of flashing yellow arrows and emergency vehicle preemption

Work continues on Weston Parkway at Sheldon Drive to install a new traffic signal. The final step necessary to activate the traffic signal is burying the final 500 feet of fiber optic cable, which has been slowed due to State of Emergency impacts on underground excavation. This traffic signal should be functional in Q4.

Staff have been working with the NC Turnpike Authority during the last year to ensure greenway, bicycle and pedestrian accommodations are included in the designs for the southeastern extension of the Triangle Expressway. The NC Turnpike Authority has a phased design-build contract in place for the Expressway. Clearing within existing right of way has begun, and designs are 
being finalized. 

Cary has three streets that will intersect with or be impacted by the NC 540 extension, including Pierce Olive Road (the east side is within Cary’s jurisdiction), West Lake Road and Bells Lake Road (west side is within Cary’s jurisdiction). The NC 540 extension will also cross two proposed greenways, the Camp Branch Greenway and Optimist Farm Greenway.

Pierce Olive and West Lake roads will include accommodations for bike lanes and future sidewalks. The proposed Optimist Farm Greenway was realigned to cross I-540 parallel to Bells Lake Road. The greenway will be constructed as a buffered street-side trail with a pedestrian tunnel. The Camp Branch Greenway will be accommodated by a bridge across I-540. Accommodations for both greenways were designed to create the safest and most desirable user experience, avoiding long tunnels under the extension. Total costs are being finalized with designs; Cary’s portion of the improvements will be paid for through bond funding. 

The last gravel section of the Annie Jones Greenway, the first trail in Cary’s greenway system, is now paved and open to the public. PGA Construction completed work on the six-foot wide concrete trail from McCloud Court to Annie Jones Park, replacing the steps at McCloud Court with a sloped walk for greater accessibility.

East Chatham Street: After

Important sidewalk construction projects continue to move forward to improve pedestrian safety, connectivity and connection to schools. Cary recently completed the East Chatham Street sidewalk connection between the roundabout and Fire Station 1.

Three sidewalk projects were recently bid. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, re-advertisement will be necessary. These sidewalk projects include:

• Ederlee Drive (Richelieu Drive to Penny Road) adjacent to Penny Road Elementary
• Penny Road (Kildaire Farm Road to Crickentree Drive) serving Oak Grove Elementary
• Tryon Road (Ashville Avenue to Ashville Avenue) 

Other sidewalk projects are moving forward to the permitting and real estate acquisition phases. Survey and mapping also are underway for the FY 2020 sidewalk projects approved by Council last fall. 

While continuing with normal GoCary operations and regional collaboration, most of the recent transit work has been in preparation for the system-wide operations changes that are scheduled to occur in summer or fall 2020. As part of that work, bus shelters received a fresh coat of paint, which significantly improved appearance throughout Cary. New solar lights and bus stop signage will be installed later this spring, and design work was initiated for passenger amenity improvements on 54 existing bus stops. White Oak Construction Corp. was tasked with building new bus stops in preparation for new and expanded bus routes. Regional coordination continued for a new mobile ticketing platform expected to rollout this summer. This Touchpass system will benefit transit riders through upgraded fare technologies, common fare structures among regional providers and a more seamless boarding experience. 

Three Cary transportation projects have been nominated for the NC Department of Transportation’s MOBI Awards:

• White Oak Creek Greenway to American Tobacco Trail
• Morrisville Parkway Extension and Interchange
• Crabtree Creek Greenway at Lake Crabtree

The Mobi Awards recognize projects that showcase the important role of investments in pedestrian, bike, transit, rail and road projects in creating vibrant communities. Project winners are planned to be announced in summer 2020.