TO THE EDITOR:
The editorial “New roof a good move,” (Sept. 14) adduces several reasons to affect the move of Chapel Hill’s homeless shelter to the intersection of Homestead Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. without further delay. But it are wrong to cite “better access to the city’s transit system” as one of them.
The present location of the shelter is vastly superior as far as access is concerned since most of transit’s routes (as well as Triangle Transit’s), save several which serve only UNC Hospitals and UNC on Manning Drive and South Road, pass through the Franklin/Columbia intersection.
This is not to say that the homeless would be marooned at MLK and Homestead. During the week, three routes provide frequent early morning to late evening service at that intersection, but on Saturdays only one route serves that area. But irrespective of which location provides better access to transit, reduced panhandling on Franklin Street, except possibly on Sundays, is likely illusory given the mobility the homeless are afforded by Chapel Hill’s excellent, not to mention free, transit service.
Felix S. Bloch
Chapel Hill Resident
