Maupin Stewart points to a spot on a map of Potts Street in Davidson Monday during the first day of a two-day meeting at Town Hall. With him is Jeanne Neumann and at right, Don Morris. At left is Wade Walker of Alta Planning (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Updated 4:51pm Monday, Dec. 9, 2013
Planners and consultants held a two-day workshop last week at Davidson Town Hall to help develop a vision for the Potts, Sloan and Beaty Street corridor in Davidson.  The study comes as the town builds a case for reallocating up to $2 million in Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) funds for the work. Originally budgeted for a downtown parking deck associated with the stalled Red Line Regional Rail Project, the money could be shifted to transportation improvements along the corridor, Davidson Public Works chief Doug Wright said last week.

Residents talked with planners on Dec. 2 at Town Hall about the Potts-Sloan-Beaty corridor. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)_

“This process is part of getting the money reallocated,” Wright said. “We’re trying to get concepts, and then we’ll go out and get cost estimates” for improvements.

The meeting Monday and Tuesday discussed improvements and street connections on the west side of town. Discussions at the two-day workshop included sidewalks, bike lanes and how and where to connect Sloan and Potts streets. The latter is a critical element as the town studies how best to create an alternate route to NC 115/Main Street, to help traffic flow around downtown Davidson.

Dan Carrigan, who lives on Potts Street, said preserving green space around the new Sloan-Potts road connection is the most import thing to to him.  Pointing to a map of the area, he said, “As the road comes through here, the question is how much of the green is maintained.”

Carrigan also expressed concern that the connection route between Sloan and Potts streets might allow for the development of more Habitat for Humanity homes, which would take away green space.

Click for the town’s map of the Potts-Sloan-Beaty corridor.

Jeanne Neumann of Potts Street was interested in how the plans would affect her street, and about new developments on the drawing board. Among other things, developer Jim Burbank is planning to construct two houses on a lot near hers on Potts Street. That’s an improvement on plans 10 years ago for two blocks of apartments on the site, she said.

The town is working with consultants Alta Planning + Design and Fuss & O’Neill to conduct the two-day session, including a series of stakeholders meetings.

Wright said this week: “There are several concepts for the connector, as well as for other portions of the corridor, that came from the meeting. Alta is currently working on merging them into coherent concepts for the entire corridor. We will look at those at a board meeting, and then take one to [CRTPO].”

The consultants have been studying a variety of questions, according to town officials:

• What should this corridor include? What should be the provisions for vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders?
• What amenities does each segment of the corridor include for vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, and transit (e.g. sidewalks, traffic lights, bike lanes, cycle tracks, multi-use pathways, on-street parking, bike racks, etc.)?
• What should the street look like? How will it be different from what it is today?
• How do we connect Potts Street to Sloan Street? What opportunities/constraints are there?
• How should the intersections be treated? Are there options for roundabouts, either at Griffith Street or other locations? What would they look like?

More information about the project is on the town website at www.townofdavidson.org/PSBCorridor.

AGENDA

Call to Order:

Silent Roll Call and Determination of Quorum:

Changes to the Agenda:

Review/Approval of the Minutes of:  August 26, 2013

New Business:

• Monthly Permit Report

Old Business:

• Recommendation on the Davidson Walks and Rolls Active Transportation Plan to the Board of Commissioners

Adjournment:

Lauren Blackburn

Lauren Blackburn, a Davidson planner for six years and the planning manager since 2010, is leaving to become director of the new N.C. Department of Transportation Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation. Her last day will be April 20 and she starts her new job April 30.

Here’s an announcement from the Town of Davidson:

Planning director resigns, takes post with NCDOT

The Town of Davidson’s Planning Manager has resigned her post to take a position with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT).
Lauren Blackburn – who has worked in the town’s Planning Department for over 6 years and has been Planning Manager since July 2010, has just been named NCDOT’s new Director of the Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation. According to NCDOT representatives, Blackburn’s duties will include supervising the day-to-day operations of the division, which oversees various aspects of bicycling and walking in North Carolina, including funding, project planning, mapping and signing and safety education.

Blackburn’s last day at Town Hall will be April 20.

While with the town, Blackburn served as Transportation Planner, oversaw land development activities and coordinated with regional partners to prioritize and implement various roadway, bicycle, transportation and land use plans. Lauren also managed the town’s Comprehensive Plan process, which spanned two years, involved over 180 residents and stakeholders, included both adult and student-led Vision Committees and seven study groups, and culminated in the approval of a plan in August 2010. In addition during her tenure, the town was nationally recognized for being a leader in bicycle, and pedestrian planning and transportation and received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve the practice of Health Impact Assessments (HIA) on policies and decisions affecting the built environment and public health. Prior to her work in Davidson, Blackburn was a Research Associate with the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute.

Town Manager Leamon Brice said watching Blackburn leave Town Hall will be difficult. “Lauren’s dedication to her work and her vision have had a profound impact on this town,” he said. “I am deeply sorry to watch such a talented planner and manager walk out our door. I am glad, however, to have someone with her skill set and her capability working for the greater good at the state level.”

Blackburn said she, too, is sorry to be leaving, but is looking forward to the new position. “I am saddened to be leaving Davidson, a town that has grown very close to my heart during my tenure here,” she said. “I’m leaving a lot of friends behind, as well as an exceptional group of citizens whose passion for their community is unmatched. I only hope that I can be as involved and inspired at the state level as I have been here, and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

To read a copy of NCDOT’s release on Lauren, click here.

As an American who has been living here for several years, I am struck, every time I go home, by the way American cities remain manacled to the car. While Europe is dealing with congestion and greenhouse gas buildup by turning urban centers into pedestrian zones and finding innovative ways to combine driving with public transportation, many American cities are carving out more parking spaces.

LINK: July 30, 2011, New York Times, “The Dutch Way: Bicycles and Fresh Bread.”