Hillsborough and Morgan Street Roundabout Design Meets Public Criticism

A skeptical audience voiced their critique of the Hillsborough/Morgan St. roundabout designs at the public hearing on August 15th. If the concerns raised were any indicator of the public’s view as a whole, then the designers will need to re-evaluate their concepts if they want their plan to meet the approval of the citizens… much less be approved by city council.

While some positive comments were made there were many criticisms of the designs. Before showing the feedback, I am first listing the goals and design elements of the initial plans as presented by the project engineer and consultant project manager.

The goals include:

• Try to stay within the existing roadway footprint
• Develop alternatives that operate well
• Increase pedestrian safety
• Maintain the surrounding businesses

Design information includes:

• Signals – Existing signal at Ashe Avenue to be converted into a pedestrian signal
• Typical Section – Sidewalks on both sides of the street, parking along Hillsborough (along the westbound bypass lane), travel lanes 12 feet wide, raised curb median with planting areas, pedestrian refuge islands at pedestrian crossings.
• Traffic Volume – 15,700 vehicles per day existing along Hillsborough Street, 5,500 vehicles per day existing along Morgan Street
• Length – 775 linear feet along Hillsborough Street
• Design Speed – 40 mph
• Posted Speed – 35 mph
• Access Control – Separate the bypass lane from the westbound Hillsborough Street traffic exiting the roundabout to eliminate weaving movement to Ashe Avenue. Restrict movement at Ashe Avenue to prohibit left turns from Ashe Avenue to westbound Hillsborough Street and conversion of the traffic signal to a pedestrian-only signal to avoid possibly impacting roundabout operation.
• Estimate Project Cost – $584,000

Note: This roundabout plan is different from others in that there is a left turn only lane coming out of it heading westward and there is a one-way by-pass lane heading westward. See included visuals.

Major concerns raised:

• The “by-pass” will encourage faster speeds and a sense of driver ownership of the road, rather than slowing the drivers down which was the original intent of the Hillsborough St. roundabouts
• The road does not act as a “main street” but encourages continual use of Hillsborough St. as a thoroughfare towards the fairgrounds instead of pushing traffic towards the Wade Ave. and Western Blvd. collector roads.
• Pedestrian crossing along Ashe Ave. will be riskier.
• The plan may set the wrong precedent for future roundabouts along Hillsborough St., i.e. encouraging traffic and autocentrism along Hillsborough St. instead of diminishing traffic
• The plan doesn’t address the possibility of future development of the Jade Garden parking lot and warehouse behind it.
• Will be more difficult to navigate than basic roundabouts; for both drivers and pedestrians
• The giant oak on the corner of Hillsborough and Morgan will have to be removed.
• The goal of making a more pedestrian friendly environment did not seem to be successfully addressed enough.
• Bicycle access through the roundabout was not addressed; additionally, bicyclists will now have to decide between stopping at the roundabout and holding up traffic by starting up again, and riding in the one lane 35 mph by-pass lane
• Visually the plan looks autocentric and doesn’t promote a greater sense of identity, place and community.
• Through use of a left turn lane onto Ashe coming out of the roundabout, the plan will encourage drivers to use the Ashe avenue neighborhood as a connection between Hillsborough St. and Western Ave. as well as to cut further up towards Hillsborough St. The recent Ashe Ave. raised crosswalks were intended to reduce the amount of traffic on that road.
• Drivers will not be able to turn left onto Hillsborough St. off of Ashe Ave.
• Multiple parking spaces east of the roundabout along Hillsborough St. will be lost due to lanes and the bus pickup location having to be altered.
• A traffic signal was raised multiple times as a still viable, and possibly more pedestrian, driver and fiscally appropriate, solution.

Some positive aspects:

• Traffic would be able to continually flow and won’t get backed up during rush hours
• The crosswalks would have pedestrian triggered crossing signals
• Crossing Morgan street will be much easier for pedestrians
• The road, for the most part, stays within the footprint of the existing road
• There will be pedestrian “refuge” zones so that pedestrians won’t have to cross two lanes at once.
• Morgan street will be two way and traffic from downtown will have the option of using that road instead of Hillsborough St.
• Businesses along Morgan street will see more traffic due to the two-lane expansion

From my perspective it seems as if the majority of the concerns raised involved the design not contributing to pedestrian safety and accessibility well enough and not reducing traffic flow and autocentrism along Hillsborough Street—as was the original intent. The eventual resolution of these two issues will set a precedent for future roundabout development along Hillsborough Street. Whatever the outcome may be, hopefully it will encourage a sense of identity, activity and community that are the underlying goals of this project.

Images and animation courtesy of PBS & J.