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2 <br /> MEMORANDUM <br /> TO: County Commissioners <br /> John Link, County Manager <br /> CIC------- <br /> FROM: Paul Thames, County Enginee <br /> DATE: September 1, 1994 <br /> SUBJECT: On-shoulder parking along Whitfield Road to access <br /> Duke Forest trails. <br /> As per the request of Commissioner Wilhoit, the following <br /> information concerning NCDOT' s prohibition of parking along <br /> Whitfield Road adjacent to Duke Forest is provided. <br /> Mike Vinable, the assistant district engineer for the NCDOT <br /> district which includes Orange County, reports that the <br /> subject of the Duke Forest visitor parking on Whitfield Road <br /> was first brought to the attention of NCDOT by a resident of <br /> the Whitfield Road area. This individual apparently reported <br /> safety concerns related to the proximity of relatively high <br /> speed traffic on Whitfield Road to vehicles in the process of <br /> parking just off of the pavement and to individuals getting <br /> into and out of parked vehicles. District DOT personnel from <br /> the Graham office inspected the area where the parking was <br /> occurring and concurred that the parking along the shoulder <br /> of Whitfield Road was undesirable. NCDOT staff noted that <br /> the parking represented a traffic safety hazard and was also <br /> damaging the edge of pavement and the roadway shoulder. In <br /> accordance with these findings, NCDOT crews soon erected "No <br /> Parking" signs along both sides of Whitfield Road in the <br /> areas where on-shoulder parking was occurring. <br /> Newspaper reports have indicated that a number of visitors to <br /> the section of Duke Forest accessible from Whitfield Road <br /> were upset with NCDOT' s decision to prohibit parking. <br /> Newspaper articles, quoting one individual who has apparently <br /> been a frequent and long time visitor to the area used for <br /> parking, have indicated that there have been no accidents <br /> which have resulted from the parking along Whitfield Road <br /> (see attached news article) . A number of individuals who <br /> frequent this section of Duke Forest have apparently become <br /> involved in a letter writing and telephone campaign to <br /> convince NCDOT to allow the parking. <br />