Once in a while, an unpleasant experience turns out to be a gift. Such was an evening rush hour recently when I sat in traffic on Estes Drive, heading west from Franklin Street to turn right on MLK Jr. Boulevard. Traffic had backed up almost to the library, giving me time not only to come […]
All posts in category Transportation
No right-on-red is wrong
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 29, 2016
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/02/29/no-right-on-red-is-wrong/
On ice
The calls started coming in Sunday before the sun had reached high noon. Constituents who live on what’s known as “tertiary streets” phoned me because they knew I’d understand their cabin fever. All of us were iced in, and our good humor had begun to fray. Tertiary streets are those out-of-the-way neighborhoods that are the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 25, 2016
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/01/25/on-ice/
Council member’s U-turn
As we grow in population, we have to grow in infrastructure. Some of the current Town Council members don’t seem to understand that parallelism. That’s one reason voters elected four new representatives to council a couple weeks ago. But at last Monday night’s council meeting, one council member may have seen the light. At that […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 16, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/11/16/council-members-u-turn/
The big money at stake
This election boils down to economic theory. One theory, held by the incumbents and a challenger who as an advisory board member voted in lockstep with them, aims to add enough luxury housing filled with high-wealth individuals that national chain stores will open branches in town. This group is banking on sales tax revenue and […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 2, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/11/02/the-big-money-at-stake/
Off the radar?
My daughter and I set up our beach chairs on the top of the Wallace Parking Deck last Thursday night, nervously, given the lightning that flashed all around us. Meg McGurk, director of the Downtown Partnership, assured all of us who had gathered to watch “Wall-E” that staff had been monitoring the storm cells on […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 22, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/06/22/off-the-radar/
We haven’t made it yet
As I waited for the traffic light to change at the corner of Columbia and Franklin streets on Friday afternoon, a school bus pulled up beside me. A little kid stuck his head out the window and yelled, “Yay! We made it to summer!” Council members undoubtedly are looking ahead a couple weeks to the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 15, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/06/15/we-havent-made-it-yet/
Just because they can
Last week a man carried a loaded assault rifle into the Atlanta airport while he dropped off his daughter for her flight. Georgia passed a law last year that allows permitted gun owners to carry loaded weapons in an airport, as long as they don’t go through the TSA security checkpoint. The man said he […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 8, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/06/08/just-because-they-can/
Devil in the details
If you build it, they will come; and when they come, they will bring traffic and public transit needs with them. And we will have to come up with solutions. The proposed version of Obey Creek has more square feet of built space than Streets of Southpoint mall. The Obey Creek plan has only two […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 1, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/06/01/devil-in-the-details/
CHALT makes connections
After my children left home, my husband and I thought of downsizing to Hillsborough, where taxes are a little bit lower. But the historic homes were too big, the small homes in a gentrifying section of town needed too much work, and the new homes in the subdivisions north of town left us uninspired. Knowing […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 26, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/01/26/chalt-makes-connections/
Ghost bikes
The electronic sign in the median of N.C. 54 urging cars to share the road with bikes might cause some drivers to keep alert to cyclists. The white Ghost Bike propped against the bridge railing next to Run-In Jim’s on MLK Jr. Boulevard will help them understand why. In early October, Pamela Lane was killed […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 3, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/11/03/ghost-bikes/