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Chapel Hill Road (CHR) extends through the northern end of Cary's Downtown, but it has a very different look and feel than other downtown streets, like Academy or Chatham. Today, CHR's width alternates back and forth, wide to narrow throughout the corridor. Sidewalks are sporadic and there are no bike lanes. The street's future design should complement the downtown identity and reflect the character of the area. Today, the street generates many questions, including:
How can the street best serve the homes, businesses, schools, and churches along the corridor?
How do we create a sense of place?
How do we make CHR walkable and pedestrian-friendly?
Do we want bike lanes? If so, where?
How many lanes do we need?
What is the right speed limit for CHR?
Do we need streetlights?
How do we manage stormwater runoff?
Do we want landscaping? Public art?
And more
The Mobility Study seeks to provide certainty to property owners and create a vision for the corridor. The map above illustrates the study area which extends along Chapel Hill Road between NW Maynard Road and NE Maynard Rd, shaded in blue. For residents and property owners interested in Chapel Hill Road west of NW Maynard refer to NCDOT's NC 54 & More Feasibility Study.
Background
The Imagine Cary Community Plan (CCP) currently proposes widening Chapel Hill Road between NW Maynard Road and NE Maynard Road to a four-lane street with center median. Today, the majority of Chapel Hill Road is a two-lane street with sporadic sidewalks, resulting in frequent sidewalk requests particularly near Northwoods Elementary School. Imagine Cary acknowledges that widening the street may effectively shrink the downtown, and that opportunities to connect neighborhoods, schools and businesses should be encouraged.
"When Chapel Hill Road is widened, consider using street and streetscape designs that reinforce the special character of downtown,
and that minimize the effect of the separation between areas north and south of the road. Design solutions should reflect downtown character and
provide greater connectivity and linkage between the neighborhoods north of the road and development south of the road." (page 156 of CCP)
Existing Conditions
The current roadway transitions from 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-lane sections often, with posted speed that varies from 25, 35, and 45, mph, and even the right-of-way (ROW) width varies between 60, 100, and 150 feet. These patterns describe a roadway that has been partially improved in segments over many years. It may not be necessary for the entire corridor to have a uniform ROW, posted speed, and number of lanes, but it will be helpful to define distinct sections that prioritize more than motorists.
Three existing conditions diagrams below provide a comprehensive look at the CHR corridor today.
Diagram 1 displays speed limits and traffic signals, number of travel lanes, AADT (average annual daily traffic), and crashes.
Diagram 2 displays pedestrian facilities and crashes, traffic volumes, right-of-way widths and adjacent land uses for CHR between NW Maynard Rd and Academy St.
Diagram 3 displays pedestrian facilities and crashes, traffic volumes, right-of-way widths and adjacent land uses for CHR between Academy St and NE Maynard Rd.
Public Engagement
Over 2,500 participants have taken a survey, attended a public meeting, attended a stakeholder meeting, or reached out to the project team. Thank you for sharing your voice.
Priorities & Needs Survey - September 2020
Public engagement is a key element of the project. The 10-quesition Priorities & Needs survey was open for over 7-weeks to gather public input. Survey participants answered questions, marked problem areas on an interactive map, and left many, many comments about pedestrian needs and other ideas on how they would improve Chapel Hill Road. Thank you to the 1,400 survey participants. View the Priorities & Needs survey report.
Public Workshop #1 - September 2020
Cary and Stantec hosted a Project Symposium on September 30, 2020. For the public's convenience, the public meeting was recorded. The project team discussed the corridor's existing conditions, reviewed the Priorities & Needs survey results, polled the audience and opened the floor for Q&A. We hope you watch this video at your convenience. Approximately 75 people attended the live session and the posted meeting video has over 150 online views.
Visual Preference Survey - November 2020
The Visual Preference Survey closed on November 1, 2020 with 670 participants. View the final survey report. What is a visual preference survey? Well if we were in person, I'd hand you sticky dots to place on the pictures of pedestrian facilities, bike facilities, and other design elements that you like most and want to see on the corridor. Today, we've moved this exercise online. 670 participants chose their preferences for various types of community design, pedestrian facilities, bike facilities, land/streetscaping, and other options.
Public Workshop #2 - June 2021
Cary hosted a Public Meeting on June 9th, 2021. That public meeting was recorded and is included at the top of this webpage. The project team discussed Street Width polled attendees and answered questions about the Chapel Hill Road corridor. We compared 4-lane and 2-lane streets. If both streets had left-turn lanes and landscaped medians as well as equivalent bike/ped facilities, which street width would you prefer? The meeting discussed safety/speed, traffic diversion, impacts, pros/cons and tradeoffs. Over 60 people attended this virtual meeting to learn more about the study and next steps, and over 100 people have viewed the video online.
Charrette - January 2022
Cary hosted a Charrette January 24 - 26, 2022. After collecting significant input via surveys and virtual meetings, the Charrette was staff's first opportunity to have the public react to conceptual designs. What is a Charrette? A Charrette combines creative, intense working sessions with Open Houses and stakeholder meetings. A Charrette is a collaborative planning process to create and support a master plan that represents transformative change.
Day 1 of Charrette: Watch Monday's Open House
The project team discusses different bike and pedestrian facilities with residents.
Day 2 of Charrette: Watch Tuesday's Open House
Day 3 of Charrette: Watch Wednesday's Open House
Focus Group Meetings
Cary staff and our consultant Stantec met with nine focus groups and stakeholders to learn how they use the street today, to hear in their words what their current transportation needs are and to learn what their priorities are for a future street design. The focus groups and stakeholders included bike/pedestrian advocates, schools, transit, emergency services (fire and police), economic development, development/investors, faith-based organizations, downtown business and neighborhoods. We listened and learned a lot from these groups. Some recurring themes emerged including a need for pedestrian improvements and a general consensus that Chapel Hill Road is a "forgotten corridor".
