The Daily Tar Heel
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue

We keep you informed.

Help us keep going. Donate Today.
The Daily Tar Heel

Chapel Hill Police Department to increase pedestrian safety enforcement operations

city-traffic-safety-longterm
Students cross South road on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Jan. 25, 2022.

The Chapel Hill Police Department will increase pedestrian safety enforcement operations — in addition to normal patrols — as students return to UNC and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, according to an announcement from the Town of Chapel Hill. 

The CHPD will patrol non-school zone areas with heavy pedestrian and bicycle traffic, including downtown Chapel Hill and crosswalks on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Estes Drive, among others. 

The CHPD also announced additional speed enforcement operations with their normal patrols to increase road safety. 

"We encourage everyone traveling, regardless of your mode of transportation, to remember that community safety is a shared responsibility," the Town said in the announcement. 

This increased enforcement of pedestrian safety comes after recent accidents involving pedestrians and bicyclists in Chapel Hill. A cyclist who was in a crash on Franklin Street later died from his injuries, and a December crash on Estes Drive left two middle school students seriously injured. 

In October 2021, the Chapel Hill Town Council adopted their Vision Zero Resolution to work to eliminate traffic injuries and deaths by 2031. The resolution stated that traffic injuries and deaths are preventable crashes rather than inevitable accidents. 

Pedestrian safety enforcement operations are planned for the following dates:

  • Saturday, Aug. 6, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  • Saturday, Aug. 13, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  • Saturday, Aug. 20, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Aug. 23, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
  • Saturday, Aug. 27, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Pedestrian safety enforcement in CHCCS school zones is planned for the following dates:

  • Monday, Aug. 29, 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. 
  • Tuesday, Aug. 30, 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.
  • Wednesday, Aug. 31, 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Speed enforcement operations are planned for the following dates:

  • Tuesday, August 2, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
  • Tuesday, August 9, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.
  • Tuesday, August 23, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.
  • Tuesday, August 30, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

@emmymrtin

@DTHCityState | city@dailytarheel.com 

To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.


Emmy Martin

Emmy Martin is the 2023-24 editor-in-chief of The Daily Tar Heel. She has previously served as the DTH's city & state editor and summer managing editor. Emmy is a junior pursuing a double major in journalism and media and information science.