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Minimum Problem Statements – Highway – 14 <br />have been proposed at US 15-501, Sage Road, and just north of Chippoaks Drive, and a greenway has <br />been proposed from just north of Chippoaks Drive to I-40. <br /> <br />Estes Drive Extension (SR 1780) (Seawell School Road (SR 1843) to NC 86 (Martin <br />Luther King Jr Boulevard)) <br /> <br />Estes Drive Extension (SR 1780), from Seawell School Road (SR 1843) to NC 86 (Martin Luther King Jr <br />Boulevard), is currently a two-lane undivided minor thoroughfare that does not provide adequate <br />pedestrian and on-road bicycle facilities, and is projected to exceed its vehicular capacity by 2040. <br />Improvements are needed to accommodate pedestrian and bicycle traffic and improve connectivity <br />between Carrboro and Chapel Hill. Estes Drive currently has many residential areas, a couple schools, <br />and a small airport located nearby. <br /> <br />This section of Estes Drive Extension currently has a 30-foot right-of-way, sidewalks at certain locations, <br />and no bicycle lanes. The 2013 AADT is 12,000 vehicles per day (vpd); by 2040, the AADT is expected to <br />be 14,000 vpd compared to a LOS D capacity of 12,900 vpd for the existing right-of-way. This volume <br />produces a volume- to-capacity ratio of just 1.1, which is unlikely to require a widening project. Estes <br />Drive Extension may see significant traffic increases by 2040 due to Chapel Hill’s plans to construct a <br />northern campus, “Carolina North,” for the University of North Carolina (UNC) just north of Estes Drive <br />Extension. The development of Carolina North will include improvements to the roadway, which may <br />include widening and intersection improvements at NC 86. <br /> <br />The current development around this section of Estes Drive Extension, in addition to the future <br />development (especially with Carolina North to be built along Estes Drive Extension), will generate <br />increased bicycle, pedestrian, and transit traffic. The current pedestrian facilities are discontinuous and <br />inadequate for existing pedestrian traffic. There are no bicycle facilities, and many of the bus stops do <br />not have any amenities and do not include bus pull-outs resulting in blocked traffic. The need for <br />pedestrian, bicycle, and transit facilities will only increase with additional development around Estes <br />Drive Extension, especially with the construction of Carolina North. The development of this new <br />campus for UNC will drastically increase non-motorized and transit traffic along Estes Drive Extension. <br />In the Carrboro Bicycle Network Plan, bicycle lanes are proposed from Estes Drive Extension to the <br />Carrboro town limits (the railroad tracks). The Chapel Hill Bicycle Facilities Plan proposes bicycle lanes <br />from Seawell School Road to Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard. <br /> <br />Sidewalks have been proposed along the east side of Estes Drive Extension (from North Greensboro <br />Street (SR 1772) to town limits) in the Carrboro Bicycle Policy and Sidewalk Policy. The Chapel Hill <br />Pedestrian Facilities Plan has proposed sidewalks from Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard (NC 86) to the <br />proposed Carrboro sidewalks. In both the Carrboro and Chapel Hill pedestrian plans, the Bolin Creek <br />Greenway is proposed to cross underneath Estes Drive with a proposed underpass.