7/15/2021 Update - Interim Installation

Staff provided an update on the process to Town Council on June 15th, 2021. Information from that meeting can be viewed here: Town of Carrboro - File #: 21-221

The Town will be installing traffic calming devices along Carol Street on Thursday, July 29^th beginning at 7:30am. Planning and Public Works staff will be on site for the installation, the approximate locations of the traffic calming devices are listed below, and the concept plans can be viewed at the links provided.

• 300 Block of Carol Street - View concept plan here
• 100 Block of Carol St - View concept plan here
• Carol St @ Lorraine St - View concept plan here

The interim treatments will be in place for several months to allow time for data collection. Here are the anticipated next steps:  

• October 2021 – Data Collection 
• November 2021 – Neighborhood Meeting

5/17/2021 Update - Latest Data and Traffic Data Primer

Data was previously presented at the March 7, 2020 public meeting.  That data can be viewed here.

Latest Data

Updated data for the 100 and 200 blocks of James Street (South and North of the post office driveway respectively) and for the 100 and 300 blocks of Carol Street can be viewed here.

Traffic Data Primer

To assist with review of this traffic data, definitions of relevant terms are listed below.

Average Daily Traffic – Total vehicles counted over the 48-hour period divided by two.  This is the anticipated number of vehicles over a 24-hr period.

Average Speed – The sum of all speeds collected divided by the total number of vehicles measured.

85^th Percentile Speed – The speed at which 85 percent of all vehicles measured are travelling slower than (Alternatively, 15 percent of all vehicles are travelling faster than the 85^th percentile).  Often used as a metric for the speed at the road conditions cause most drivers feel comfortable travelling.

Peak Hour Volume – The highest observed hourly volume (number of vehicles counted), used to describe the most intense traffic flow.

Peak Hour – Time of day when the peak hour volume occurs.

A note on data variability: Traffic volumes and speeds are susceptible to variations that occur due to different traffic patterns in different seasons, weather conditions, holidays, et cetera.  The Town typically only collects speed and volume data when both schools (i.e. UNC and CHCCS) are in session.  This past year, due to COVID-19 travel behavior has changed due to an increase in telework and a reduction in people driving to work.  Aside from weather, speed data itself is less susceptible to changes due to seasonality.

Traffic Calming 

The Town of Carrboro will be conducting traffic calming tests along Carol Street and James Street on Thursday, May 20, 2021 between 7:30 am and 3:00 pm

Public Works and Fire-Rescue staff will be checking spacing, dimensions and maneuverability with different vehicle types at the following locations:

• James Street at the 100 Block
• Carol Street at the 100 Block
• Carol Street at the 300 Block
• Carol Street at Lorraine Street

We are working towards an interim installation in early summer 2021.

Here are the anticipated next steps:

• Neighborhood Meeting on interim plan – Saturday, June 5
• Report to Town Council – Tuesday, June 15

Town Contact: Tina Moon, Planning Administrator
Email: cmoon@townofcarrboro.org     Phone: 919-918-7325

Project Update - 7/17/2020

The feedback received from the neighborhood during the March 7th meeting has been used to develop concept level traffic calming improvements to address the issues identified. Internal staff from multiple departments including Police, Fire, and Public Works are reviewing this concept plan. The current conditions of COVID-19 prevent us from holding any additional public input sessions at this time. We are working to create an opportunity for residents to give feedback and to have a discussion on neighborhood preferences for access control at Carol Street. We are currently planning to provide an update to the Town Council early in the fall. 

In the meantime, if you observe any unsafe driving behavior occurring in your neighborhood, please direct any information you may have to the Carrboro Police Department’s non-emergency line at: 919-918-7397 or via email to deptpd@townofcarrboro.org.  

However, if you observe behavior that is egregiously unsafe, do not be hesitant to call 911.

Additionally, we’ve developed some temporary signage which can be installed along the streets to help better inform drivers to expect pedestrians walking in the street due to current social distancing requirements.

A version of the sign that you can print for your own use can be found here.

Neighborhood Meeting - 3/7/2020

On March 7th, 2020, the first Neighborhood Information Meeting for the Plantation Acres Traffic Calming Plan was held at Carrboro Town Hall. There were over 40 people in attendance and town staff received over 30 comment forms, which residents used to identify the problem areas related to vehicle speeds, volumes, conflicts, and other concerns observed in their neighborhood. The feedback received was aggregated based on location and type of issue identified (selected from a set of 5) to help show patterns within the neighborhood and identify the locations where the most issues were observed.

* Agenda items and other materials related to this matter may also be found under the name "Plantation Acres."