Town of Chapel Hill issued the following announcement on Dec. 5.
The Chapel Hill Police Department will perform three speed enforcement operations in December – in addition to normal patrols – with the main goal of improving safety for everyone who shares roads.
- Friday, December 3, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.
- Tuesday, December 7, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Tuesday, December 14, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
*Dates and times are subject to change
Chapel Hill Police will also perform three pedestrian safety enforcement operations this month:
- Friday, December 3, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
- Thursday, December 9, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
- Tuesday, December 14, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
*Dates and times are subject to change
Each effort will focus on areas with heavy pedestrian and bicycle traffic, including downtown, and mid-block crosswalks (ex. along the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard corridor). We encourage everyone traveling, regardless of your mode of transportation, to remember that community safety is a shared responsibility.
Please use the following tips to improve safety for everyone on and near the roads:
- Limit distractions
- Phones down; eyes up (this is true for people driving, walking, riding a bike, and rolling)
- Keep your music at an appropriate level to hear what’s happening outside your car or around you
- Yield to pedestrians in crosswalks
- State law says all vehicles must yield to pedestrians once they have safely entered a crosswalk
- Please use designated crosswalks to cross roads
- Walk against traffic; ride with traffic
- People walking that don’t have access to sidewalks should walk in the opposite direction as traffic
- People riding bicycles should ride in a bike lane or in the same direction as traffic if there isn’t a designated path
- Bicycles are permitted to ride on the sidewalk except downtown (Franklin and Rosemary streets). Bicycles are permitted on sidewalks along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard outside the Chapel Hill Police Department as long as they are going in the same direction as traffic.
The Town will utilize its variable message sign (VMS) boards throughout Town to alert people driving of the events as well as encouraging them to limit distractions and watch out for people walking and people riding their bikes.
The Road to Zero
The 2019 Pedestrian Safety Action Plan is a key component in turning the Town’s Road to Zero commitment into a reality. This plan lays out strategies to address pedestrian safety concerns through policy, infrastructure, and programming. The Road to Zero Task Force advises implementation of the Pedestrian Safety Action Plan with a focus on equity, public engagement, safe routes to school, and data analysis. Read more: townofchapelhill.org/residents/transportation/bicycle-and-pedestrian/road-to-zero
Original source can be found here.
