Travel with care and please pay attention when driving, walking and biking.

Town employees participated in a Staff Awareness Bike Ride on April 22 in order to raise awareness of the challenges people who ride bikes face while navigating streets in Chapel Hill.

As spring is here and summer close behind, please travel with care and pay attention when driving, walking and biking. As part of our ongoing support of a community friendly to people who bike and walk, the Town of Chapel Hill will continue to promote safety at crosswalks.

People may receive helpful information, warnings, and in some cases, tickets for violations. Officers may cite people who are driving for failure to yield to people walking within the crosswalk and cite people walking for crossing against the signals or crossing outside the crosswalk. Fines and court costs for these violations begin at $213.

Multiple officers will monitor the following areas to encourage and enforce safe behavior from everyone:
• 8-9 a.m. Tuesday, May 5, Estes Drive
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 19, South Columbia Street corridor
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 26, Manning Drive and Ridge Road

The Town of Chapel Hill is working on several fronts to improve safety for people walking and biking with the installation of new flashing lights at mid-block crosswalks, sharrows with green boxes, safety signage, and a step up in traffic education and enforcement. An interdepartmental staff group is tackling the safety issue from many angles – from trimming hedges to educating or ticketing people driving, walking or biking to enforce safe behaviors.

They join efforts with community groups including the Town’s Transportation and Connectivity Board, and Bicycle Alliance Chapel Hill (BACH). A new WikiMap at http://www.wikimapping.net/wikimap/chapelhill.html offers residents an opportunity to comment on safety issues they experience around town.

Chapel Hill is working to make the community safer for travelers. Help us become a safer place to walk, bike and drive. For more information, visit:

http://www.townofchapelhill.org/town-hall/news-events/current-issues/pedestrian-and-cyclist-safety.