Mayor Says Wants More Done to Protect Pedestrians
By Philip Jones

The town of Chapel Hill prides itself on its pedestrian friendliness. But in a three day stretch last month, two pedestrians and a biker were killed along Chapel Hill roads.

Mayor Kevin Foy thinks the town needs to do more to protect pedestrians and said a little help from the state could go a long way.

“We have persuaded people to walk,” Foy said. “More people walk; more people take the bus; more people ride their bikes. And our infrastructure to accommodate them lags. So I think that, unfortunately, it’s a bad sign.”

Foy said the town wants crosswalks at more intersections, but since the state owns roads such as Franklin Street and Highway 15-501, requests for safety improvements have to go through the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

And Foy said getting the town and the DOT to see eye to eye is no easy task.

“There are many things on which we disagree, and philosophically, one of the things that we have a greater emphasis on is pedestrian and bicycle transportation,” Foy said. “So there’s a conflict there and you can see who’s winning.”

But DOT engineer Vance Barham said the state focuses more on pedestrians than cars.

“Pedestrians and bicyclists are a higher priority in our decision making of what needs to be done, particularly in areas like Chapel Hill and Carrboro, or any university or school setting,” Barham said.

Still, Foy said more can be done by both the town and the state – and he hopes Chapel Hill residents will be patient while he does what he can to keep the town’s pedestrians safe.

“It’s difficult being to be in the position of being the mayor and saying to citizens, ‘I don’t really control the roads in this town,’” Foy said. “That’s hard to explain.”

Both the town and the DOT said they’re looking into new safety measures at the intersection of Highway 15-501 and Manning Drive where UNC professor David Galinsky died.

The DOT denied the town’s request for a crosswalk there in 2000. Foy said he now hopes to get permission to install a pedestrian overpass.