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47 <br /> Behavioral Components of Vehicular and Pedestrian Traffic Patterns <br /> There are approximately 15-20 Orange High students walking or cycling to school. On-site <br /> observations noted several high school pedestrians walking through the practice football field to <br /> the nearby neighborhood. Field staff noted the following travel norms for Orange High: <br /> ♦ Motorist behavior was observed as poor. Many drivers park on the side of the <br /> road to avoid the afternoon car queue and make illegal U-turns in the road, <br /> creating safety concerns for students and other drivers. Parents also cut into the <br /> car queue, park in visitor spots, and park in the woods causing a lot of potential <br /> for accidents. Other traffic speeds through the school zone. <br /> ♦ The car queue in the morning is short with relatively little to no queuing. <br /> Sometimes traffic turning left into the school causes a small back up of no more <br /> than 5 cars, but clears quickly. <br /> ♦ The car queue in the afternoon is heavier, however,there is no backup onto <br /> Orange High School Road. <br /> ♦ Approximately 10-15 cars park on the side of Orange High School to avoid waiting <br /> in the car queue. Cars park on both sides of the road and make a U-turn in the <br /> road to leave. Students walk out to the cars, sometimes crossing the street. Field <br /> staff observed a near miss between a vehicle and student. <br /> ♦ Students walking to and from school cut across the practice football field to walk <br /> from the nearby neighborhood. <br /> ♦ Town of Hillsborough staff noted that students walk from the school to the <br /> nearby Walgreens via an existing informal pedestrian path through the woods. <br /> Existing Infrastructure - Strengths <br /> Few strengths were noted due to the lack of pedestrian and bicycle facilities.The following <br /> observations were noted as existing system strengths: <br /> + Sidewalks in the immediate vicinity of the school are adequate. <br /> Existing infrastructure - Deficiencies <br /> There are multiple issues related to infrastructure deficiency and traffic issues that warrant <br /> improvement, create safety hazards, and prevent children from walking and cycling to <br /> school safely. Key weaknesses, barriers, and obstacles include the following: <br /> — The high speeds and high traffic volume along US 70 presents a serious safety threat for <br /> pedestrians and bicyclists. <br /> — There are no crosswalks or pedestrian signage in the vicinity of the school. <br /> — There are no pedestrian or bicycle facilities found on adjacent roadways and there is no <br /> sidewalk connectivity to nearby neighborhoods.Table 2.8 summarizes key locations <br /> where insufficient infrastructure creates barriers to pedestrians and bicyclists. <br /> Safe Routes to School <br /> Orange County,North Carolina 4S <br />