Lights to Boost Safety, Beauty of Franklin St.

The Streetscape initiative has been in operation since 1993 and is geared toward achieving the Town Council's vision for downtown. The program's managers came before the council in early November and requested funding to implement their ideas for improving the Franklin Street area.

The poles and fixtures will be added to Franklin Street along with the four benches already in place to begin reconstructing downtown Chapel Hill.

Curtis Brooks, one of Streetscape's landscape architects, said the Chapel Hill Arts Commission was responsible for selecting the bench design. He said the total cost of the benches was about $3,500.

"They're not comfortable, but it's art," he said.

The Town Council approved Nov. 11 the installation of poles and fixtures that will be custom-made by Duke Power Company. Twenty lampposts will be placed on the 100 blocks of East Franklin and North Columbia streets at a cost of $1.3 million for the entire lighting plan.

Town Council members said they decided to support option two out of four choices proposed by town staff because it will provide the best lighting and is the most aesthetically pleasing.

"Option two allows for the most focused lighting, and it is important to raise lighting in downtown Chapel Hill for safety issues," said council member Jim Ward.

The plan includes short, pedestrian-level fixtures attached to tall light fixtures to provide even lighting on streets.

Council member Flicka Bateman said option two was the most attractive proposal and added that Streetscape is important because it is helping the economy of downtown Chapel Hill.

"It is good because downtown is the area University alumni come back to and also what visitors come to see," Bateman said.

Ward said the economic factors are what helped him to decide which option was best. "The downtown area is the front door to Chapel Hill and the economic engine that will encourage people to spend time and money," he said.

Bateman said council members based their decision on the pros and cons of each proposal rather than the costs.

"Option two was the most expensive, but it offered more flexibility in terms of where the light will shine," she said.

Both Bateman and Ward said they are supportive of Streetscape.

"They are right on schedule, and we need to continue to make downtown attractive," Bateman said.

Brooks said that the downtown represents the community and that the Streetscape program is money well spent in efforts to improve the whole downtown. Brooks also said that the program plans to reconstruct all of Franklin Street and that it is 30 to 40 percent complete.

"The plan was to do all of Franklin Street and across streets of Church, Graham and Rosemary streets that have not received as much recognition," he said. "But eventually, we will run out of money, and we hope private endeavors will come in to help with the reconstruction."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.