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City presents Church Street corridor study; residents call for safer, walkable street
Summary
Planning staff summarized community feedback on the Church Street corridor study—safety, consistent sidewalks, protected bike lanes, lighting and more locally owned businesses topped priorities—and outlined preliminary recommendations and next steps for additional engagement and a summer draft plan.
City planning staff presented an update March 12 on the Church Street corridor study, describing public engagement to date and preliminary concepts for improving safety, connectivity and economic vibrancy along the corridor from Highway 29 toward downtown.
Planning design manager Kaylee said staff split the corridor into areas A, B and C and performed a walk audit of area A. Staff reported 41 attendees at the in-person open house and a larger online participation set, with 1,872 answered inputs on the public engagement portal and 178 distinct participants in the portal. Survey responses and open-house comments repeatedly called for a safer, more walkable and bike-friendly street; more consistent sidewalks; traffic-calming measures and improved lighting; and enhancements to promote shopping and dining and a people-first extension of downtown.
Preliminary concepts under consideration include pedestrian infrastructure upgrades (wider sidewalks, midblock crossings), protected bicycle facilities where feasible, traffic-calming measures, lighting and visibility improvements, street trees and landscaping, facade and streetscape enhancements, wayfinding and programming for public spaces. Staff emphasized recommendations remain preliminary, will be filtered for feasibility and cost, and will be refined with other departments and NC Department of Transportation as needed before a spring community meeting and drafting through summer.
Next steps: staff will return to the public with more detailed recommendations in a spring meeting and draft the plan over the summer, with additional technical work and interdepartmental coordination ongoing in advance of any policy or capital decisions.
