Chapel Hill aims to increase traffic efficiency, hires Urban Collage to redevelop areas

After months of planning and analysis, Chapel Hill is one step closer to a redeveloped shopping area.

At the third public discussion on the redevelopment of the Ephesus Church Road-Fordham Boulevard area Thursday night, consultants and community leaders stressed the importance of revitalizing and reorganizing the area to make it more accessible to residents.

The plan’s main goal is to increase traffic efficiency, especially at the intersection of the two roads, which speakers referred to as the “problem child” of the project.

Along with traffic considerations, the project plans to enact mixed-use developments in areas like Rams Plaza, Village Plaza, Colony Apartments, the vacant Volvo dealership, Hampton Inn and University Ford.

“These areas are predominantly one-use. They’re busy at times and others relatively empty,” said Urban Collage Lead Consultant Stan Harvey. “We need to encourage diversity of usage to get that 24-hour feel.”

The town has hired Urban Collage to work on the redevelopment of the area.

Chapel Hill Town Council member Ed Harrison, who has relied on bicycle transportation for the past 20 years, said the intersection was not built for such a high traffic volume.

“The problem right now is getting any sort of traffic to move,” he said.

Traffic consultant Amy Massey said the intersection received a borderline-failing grade in efficiency. To remedy this, Massey said the town needs to make area service roads more accessible to traffic to help reduce the intersection’s congestion.

“We want people to have some choices as far as where they want to travel,” she said.

These choices include creating new bus stops along Fordham Boulevard, extending portions of South Elliott Road and increasing streets’ accessibility to bicycle and foot traffic.

Harvey said the area needs to be thought of in an urban sense for development to be successful.

“We’re focusing on making it walkable, not just super blocks,” he said.

Chapel Hill Economic Development Officer Dwight Bassett said proposed improvements would have to be shared between property owners and the town.

Bassett said area property owners will be responsible for 80 percent of the project’s funding and the town will supply the remaining 20 percent.

For now, planners will perform more traffic analyses before presenting the plan to Chapel Hill Town Council by February.

Bassett said development will begin at the earliest two years after adoption by the council.

Contact the City Editor

at citydesk@unc.edu.