Town leaders have identified increasing the amount of parking downtown as key to the economic development of Chapel Hill. With its plans for University Square Plaza, UNC’s administration is hoping to provide an answer to their call.Renovations at the square will add multi-level parking decks to increase the amount of parking in downtown Chapel Hill by about 300 spaces.
Chapel Hill needs more buses, but the town has no place to park them, Assistant Transit Director Brian Litchfield said.Chapel Hill Transit increased ridership by 14 percent from July 2008 to July 2009, giving 7.4 million rides for the 2009 fiscal year.But no buses can be added to meet future demands until Chapel Hill Transit finds someplace to park them.A location was purchased for an expansion to Chapel Hill’s operations center, where buses are parked and repaired, but plans to develop it are still in the works, Litchfield said.
Chapel Hill Transit’s first extension beyond the county borders to Pittsboro has had limited success in its first week.It’s carried between nine and 15 people daily from Chatham County into Chapel Hill, said Brian Litchfield, assistant transit director for Chapel Hill Transit.But even though the numbers are low, Litchfield said they are good for the first week, and he expects the line to become more popular.The PX bus line started running Aug. 31. It operates during commuter times, from about 6 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and from about 4:40 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Chapel Hill might increase park and ride lots and decrease downtown parking if the recommendations from a new transit plan are approved.The Long Range Transit Plan, which has been in the works for two and a half years by the Chapel Hill Planning Department, is expected to be finalized next week, opened for public discussion this fall and in effect by 2035.Faster bus routes will need to circulate more frequently as Carolina North and UNC grow, according to the draft plan.
