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Consideration of NCDOT Ordinance and subsequent Carrboro Town Code Amendment to Change the Speed Limit of Homestead Road to 35 MPH
PURPOSE: NCDOT has requested Town approval of an ordinance to repeal the 45 mile per hour speed limit for a short section of Homestead Road, near Stratford Drive. This would be the first step in the process to codify a 35 mile per hour speed limit for the entire Homestead Road corridor. Changing the speed limit for a state-maintained road involves the approval of an NCDOT ordinance. A resolution concurring with NCDOT’s ordinance to repeal the 45 MPH segment has been provided (Attachment A). An amendment to repeal the 45 MPH segment in the Town Code has also been provided (Attachment B).
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Department
DEPARTMENT: Planning, Zoning, and Inspections
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Council Direction
COUNCIL DIRECTION:
___ Race/Equity ____ Climate ____ Comprehensive Plan __X__Other
Council Direction Statement
Proposals to improve bike-ped safety along Homestead Road have been identified in the updated Comprehensive Bicycle Plan and the Transportation and Mobility Chapter of the 2022-2042 Comprehensive Plan, Carrboro Connects. This agenda item seeks Town Council approval to advance an administrative process to change the speed limit. Racial Equity and Climate Action pocket questions evaluating the proposed change have been provided.
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Information
INFORMATION: The Town works closely with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to incorporate local initiatives into regularly scheduled maintenance projects such as resurfacing. The NCDOT is scheduled to resurface Homestead Road (SR 1717) from NC 86 (Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) in Chapel Hill to Old NC 86 (SR 1009) at Calvander in Carrboro. Work is anticipated to begin as soon as June 2026.
After a series of conversations with NCDOT and the Town of Chapel Hill over the past couple of years, NCDOT has agreed to modify the speed limit for Homestead Road to 35 MPH for the entire corridor. This would involve reducing the speed limit from 45 MPH to 35 MPH for a short segment along Homestead Road in the vicinity of Stratford Drive in Carrboro. The process of NCDOT to change the speed limit on a state-maintained road requires the approval of an ordinance; if the road is located within an incorporated municipality, the governing board for the municipality must take formal action to support the change. The resolution in Attachment A provides for that action.
Once NCDOT has completed its process, anticipated to occur this summer, an amendment to the Town Code will be needed so that the local regulations align with NCDOT’s records. A draft Town Code amendment has been prepared for this purpose (Attachment B). The Council is asked to consider this amendment for adoption, subject to the Department’s approval of the changes to the speed limit to 35 MPH.
Homestead Road is classified as a minor arterial in NCDOT’s functional classification system and an arterial in the Town of Carrboro’s street classification per Section 15-210. NCDOT conducts traffic counts on state-maintained roads on a biannual schedule NCDOT AADT Map <https://ncdot.maps.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?layers=9a4c0ef17ee2456c8fb745fe85de6baf>. Counts are typically conducted on Homestead Road in two locations in Carrboro: near Calvander and near High School Road. The Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) volume for Homestead Road in 2024, the most recent data, was 5600 in the Calvander location and 7,000 in High School Road location. The review of trip data was a factor in the consideration of request to lower the speed limit.
The resurfacing project will also include a new cross-section design. Planning staff from the Town of Carrboro and the Town of Chapel Hill have been working collaboratively to prepare new pavement marking plans to reduce the width of the travel lanes and/or increase the width of the shoulder. These changes are designed to improve safety by reducing vehicle speeds and creating better infrastructure for cyclists. In Carrboro the change will involve reducing the width of vehicle travel lanes from 11+ feet to 10.5 feet for travel lanes, and 10 feet for turning lanes. Where possible shoulder width will be increased with additional asphalt.
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Fiscal and Staff Impact
FISCAL IMPACT: There are no fiscal impacts associated with the consideration of this item. The approximately $27,000 cost to conduct the necessary survey work and preparation of the new pavement marking plan has been paid for with funds from the Planning Department’s FY26 operation budget under engineering services.
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Recommendation
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Council:
1) adopt the resolution approving the NCDOT ordinance (Attachment A), and
2) consider adopting the Town Code amendment changing the speed limit for Homestead Road to 35 MPH for the entire length in Carrboro (Attachment B). This action would only occur after NCDOT has formally changed the speed limit through the completion of its ordinance process.
Implementation of the new pavement marking plan will occur as part of the resurfacing project; no additional action is needed.
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