Carrboro Wins Silver Level Bicycle Friendly City Award
On Saturday, February 26th, 2011, Carrboro received the “Bicycle Friendly City Award” at Looking Glass Cafe at 601 Main St. Bill Nesper from The League of American Bicyclist organization presented the SILVER LEVEL Bicycle Friendly City award. Carrboro is only one of 2 cities in the southeast US to receive a silver level status. The other city is Gainesville, FL with a population of over 100,000!
The Town of Chapel Hill received a bronze award on the previous day. While we have a long way to go to build a great urban network of bike trails, it is time to celebrate what we have achieved.
Carrboro to Celebrate Silver Medal Award, Herald Sun, February 27, 2011
What’s Happening with the Campus to Campus Connector?
On February 15th, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen will consider next steps on the Campus to Campus Connector. Attend the meeting in Carrboro Town Hall and show your support.
In January 2011, the Campus to Campus Bicycle Committee (CCBC) petitioned the Town of Chapel Hill Advisory Committees to press for a dedicated bike path connecting UNC campus to the Carolina North site. The Chapel Hill Town Council considered the joint staff report on a recommended route and referred the route to the Town’s Advisory Committees last October.
Our group is collaborating with UNC, staff from both Towns, and the Carrboro Bicycle Coalition to encourage UNC and local governments to move on to the next logical step of approving the recommended route and to authorize design work.
The Connector will benefit bicyclists in Chapel Hill and Carrboro commuting to UNC. The demand for this facility exists now and will only increase as Chapel Hill and Carrboro grow. We are asking the Towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and UNC adopt a schedule for next steps with deadlines.
Time line should include:
- Spring 2011: Elected Boards endorse recommended alignment
- Phase I: Design Work
– Identify design funding for Route A. (to what degree can in- house staff provide)
– Establish and confirm right- of way and/or grant access
– Establish Route A design guidelines (main trunk, pedestrian/bike waysides & connections, landscape enhancements, lighting, safety, way- finding etc.)
– Prepare a cost estimate for construction of Route A. - Phase II: Construction:
– Identify funding mechanisms
– Construction schedule
– Identify management and maintenance of the pathway
Background
• In 2006, Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Orange County elected officials and citizens participated in a Leadership Advisory Committee established by UNC to set principles for the development of Carolina North. A key adopted principle established a compact footprint for the Carolina North campus within Chapel Hill’s jurisdiction for the next 50 years.
• In June 2009, the University of North Carolina and the Town of Chapel Hill signed the Carolina North Development Agreement. UNC and the Town of Chapel Hill included a provision in the Agreement for an off-road bike connector. See attached excerpt from Development Agreement.
• In 2009-2010, UNC and the Town of Chapel Hill staff implemented the requirements of the Agreement, holding three workshops open to all citizens to gather input on three possible locations for the Connector. The staff recommended Route A of three options. See map of preferred alignment.
• In 2010, the Chapel Hill Town Council received UNC’s annual Development Agreement report in September 2010. The Council referred the staff report of the recommended alignment for the campus to campus route to the Town’s Advisory Boards for comment. See attached excerpt from the UNC Annual Report.
• Chapel Hill Town staff will present a report to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen in February 2010. CCBC will send this memo to Carrboro Advisory Boards.
Update on Campus to Campus Bike Connector
CCBC is thrilled that Town and UNC staffs have recommended a preferred bicycle route for the Campus to Campus Connector. Town and University staff have worked expeditiously the last year and a half and completed the task outlined in the Carolina North Agreement.
On October 11, the University made a progress report on the Carolina North Development Agreement.The Council referred the plan to the Bicycle/Ped and Greenways advisory groups for comment and will consider those comments before deciding next steps.
The route chosen by UNC and Town staff with public input calls for the connector to run along Cameron Avenue, the Libba Cotton trail and then along town owned land along the railroad to Estes Drive.
Here is the challenge…………
You may not be aware that the Carolina North Development Agreement does not contain any further requirements or triggers to implement the plan. The Chapel Hill Council will need to design a framework for working with Carrboro and the University going forward.
This major artery between campuses is infrastructure is sorely needed and would benefit the community if it were built in advance of the new campus.Because of the economic picture, there are not immediate plans to move ahead with new building on Carolina North. However preparation and design work needs to proceed so this important bicycle link is in place when the economy improves.
We are eager to collaborate with all biking enthusiasts and elected leaders to establish a schedule for planning and engineering work, and a means for governments and bicycling advocates to work together.
Chapel Hill and UNC Staff Recommend Connector Route
On Sunday, August 15th the Chapel Hill News featured an article about the UNC and Town staff recommendation to build a connector between Carolina North and UNC.
We have written about the Carolina connector before. But it is big news that the Town-UNC team that has been studying this route with community input since July 2008 has narrowed three options to one. The route chosen is relatively flat, less expensive than the others, and follows the rail road track without disturbing the railway easement.
The Town- gown team deserves kudos for completing this task set out in the development agreement ahead of schedule. The next challenge will be to put in place the funding and that will take leadership from the Carrboro Board of Aldermen and the Chapel Hill Town Council.
Posted in Town Officials, comment | Tagged Campus to Campus Connect
Workshop #3: Locating a route for the connector
Here is another opportunity to participate in the campus to campus bicycle connection discussions. The Carolina North Agreement requires a mostly off-road bicycle path between the UNC downtown campus and Carolina North, the new planned campus on the airport property. Below is the announcement from UNC.
Dear Friends and Neighbors:
On August 12, from 4:00-5:30 p.m., the Town of Chapel Hill and UNC will host a meeting at the Chapel Hill Public Library to review the draft recommendation for the Campus to Campus connector and hear your feedback.
The University and Town staffs have worked together to analyze the comments from the two previous workshops and to develop the draft recommendation. The final recommendations for location and funding opportunities will be presented to the Town Council in September 2010.
Materials from the two previous public meetings are available on the Campus to Campus (C2C) Connector page of the Town’s website. If you can’t join us on August 12, you can review the draft recommendation and send us an email response to: carolinanorth@townofchapelhill.org.
The Campus to Campus Connector will be a greenway and bike path connection between the Carolina North campus and the main UNC campus. The goal is to identify a route that is not within the Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. roadway and that avoids steep grades where feasible. It may include existing or planned greenways for a portion of the route.
If you have a question for the Town, call the Town of Chapel Hill Planning Department at 968-2728.
If you have a question for the University, contact Jill Coleman at jcoleman@fac.unc.edu.
C2C Campus to Campus Bike Connection Workshop
A second Campus to Campus Bike Connection Workshop will be held on Thursday April 15 from 5:30 – 7 pm at the Giles Horney Building in the Magnolia room. These are UNC office opposite the YMCA off of MLK and just south of Estes.
Join those of us who would like to see the dedicated bike path between central campus and Carolina North happen soon. See map of potential routes at C2C link under blogroll.
CCBC plans to walk proposed bike routes
The purpose of these walks is to gather information and get citizen feedback on possible routes for a bicycle path that will connect the UNC campus to the site of the future Carolina North campus. We will walk two routes that CCBC has identified (and we welcome suggestions for other possible routes that we should also explore).
March 27: We will meet at Caribou coffee house on W. Franklin (near Columbia St.) at noon for a quick briefing and then set off at 12:15 to explore a route that would pass through the Northside neighborhood, connecting to the Tanyard Branch Greenway and then to Umstead Park and Umstead Dr. to Estes Dr. We will furnish transportation for those who want a ride back to Caribou.
For further information contact julie at mcclintock.julie@mindspring.com
Campus to Campus Bicycle Connection
CCBC – Campus-to-Campus Bicycle Connection – is a group of citizens organized to promote and facilitate the planning and construction of a bicycle path that will connect the main campus of UNC Chapel Hill to the new Carolina North campus of UNC. The new campus will be built on the Horace Williams Tract north of Estes Road. Our advocacy group is a work group under the leadership of Neighbors for Responsible Growth.
Chapel Hill Campus to Campus Connector to Carolina North 