For the web two weeks ago, we republished a story from our partners at the 9th Street Journal about planned improvements for Roxboro Street in downtown Durham. We got a lot of responses from Durham readers about the story.

From reader Chris Perelstein, who was interviewed for the story:

I found [NC Department of Transportation district engineer] John Sandor’s comments quite troubling and before I got to even send this email, we had yet another pedestrian death Sunday May 5th on Roxboro St. I don’t see any acknowledgement of the problems folks encounter every day due to the design speed being so much higher than the posted speed limit, nor any suggestions on what sort of solutions NCDOT is looking at or proposing for this corridor, just staking out an adversarial position against the city. We need NCDOT to be a good faith partner in building better streets through our communities. I’m concerned we aren’t going to get that. To address some of John Sandor’s specific comments in the article I’d like to provide the following:

“How many cars use this road every day? You’re creating congestion, which is going to make it very challenging to handle that same amount of cars. Where are those cars going to go?”

Ironically just after the article published we had an ongoing lane closure begin one block from me and I’ve recorded similar volumes with less than half the reckless speeders going 15+ over the limit.

“Has it been done successfully?”

Yes, and even right here in Durham! Main and Chapel Hill are great examples.

“Whereas if I’m a pedestrian on a one-way street, all I have to do is look one way, right?”

While this sounds good, a frequent problem is the lack of visibility drivers have when going the same direction. Cars in the nearest lane may yield properly but the next lane of traffic will continue at a high rate of speed in violation of the law. This is likely due to pedestrians being obscured by stopped vehicles. Two way allows both lanes better visibility of pedestrians and crossing traffic.

From reader John Tallmadge, the executive director of Bike Durham:

Residents from neighborhoods across Durham, whether in northeast central Durham or southwest Durham, we all want and deserve streets that are safe for walking, biking, and driving. That means streets designed for slower speeds, with sidewalks, safe crossings, protected bike lanes, and access to transit. In the April 26th article “Reckless Roxboro May Get a Revamp if Locals Can Persuade NCDOT”, Esmé Fox reports on the residents organizing for safer two-way designs of Roxboro and Mangum Streets. The City Council adopted this change in their 2020 Move Durham Study, and staff has hired an engineering consultant to analyze the impacts before developing a design. However, the district engineer dismisses this direction set by our elected and staff leadership, “We have a bigger responsibility than just those citizens that live down in that corridor.” Since these are NCDOT-maintained streets, the district engineer also needs to be convinced to become a partner in making this change.  

Just last week at the NC Traffic Safety Conference, the City of Durham Transportation Department, the Southside Neighborhood Association, and Bike Durham were recognized with the 2024 Collaboration of the Year Award by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program. This award was for the collective effort to engage the residents about their desires for slower speed traffic where they lived, to co-design solutions that the City evaluated, approved, and implemented.  

We call on NCDOT engineers to embrace this model of collaboration so that they become full partners with the City and community residents in addressing concerns about speeding traffic that too often leads to tragedy. Our streets belong to all of us and they should be designed so that everyone can thrive whether walking, biking, riding transit, or in a car.

From reader Leslie Griffith:

NCDOT District Engineer John Sandor’s skepticism of reverting Roxboro and Mangum to two-way streets is out of touch with the reality of this corridor.

First, Sandor wrongly suggests that one-way streets are safer because pedestrians only need to look one way. I don’t mind looking both ways to cross a street—I was taught that as a kid, as I assume every NCDOT engineer was. I mind drivers going 40+ mph. Converting roads back to two-way helps keep traffic flowing at a safe speed.

But it’s clear NCDOT’s real priority is convenience for car drivers, specifically commuters.

Sandor’s concern ignores that corridor traffic is down 20 percent since the East End Connector opened, as the article states, and that converting the roads wouldn’t necessarily decrease total lanes in either direction. It also ignores other important priorities, like accessing businesses or avoiding injury and death. But even accepting NCDOT’s narrow focus, these roads need to change.

Driving Roxboro and Mangum—which I do through downtown almost every day—is no picnic. You’ve got to constantly check your mirrors for speeding drivers swerving between lanes. The number of lanes on Roxboro varies block to block, adding another level of stress and collision risk. And then drivers must navigate the blind corner, racetrack-style curves, and confusing traffic patterns where both Roxboro and Mangum intersect with Markham. This area causes both speeding and abrupt stops and slowdowns—a perfect recipe for car-to-car collisions. I’ve witnessed dozens of fender-benders in this corridor and multiple more serious crashes. The resulting accident responses routinely snarl up traffic. That’s no fun for anyone’s commute.

From reader Brian Hawkins, who is the chair of Durham Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission: 

It’s possible that Mr. Sandor gives away more than he intends by saying, “We have a bigger responsibility than just those citizens that live down in that corridor.”

By “we” I assume he means the NCDOT, or perhaps the profession of traffic engineering. And that the “bigger” responsibility to which he refers is rather the different “responsibility” to move as many cars as possible. It isn’t Mr. Sandor’s fault that he thinks this way; “level of service” has been the core doctrine of traffic engineering for decades. We have a long legacy of pedestrian- and cyclist-killing infrastructure to show for it.

The NCDOT’s own mission statement puts safety front and center. Safety is the first of its listed organizational values.

They should consider living up to that.  

From reader John Faulconer:

Getting around Durham can sometimes be dangerous, no matter which mode of transport you pick. There are certain areas that are more dangerous than others though, and most of the time it’s roads owned and operated by NCDOT.

The City of Durham has plans to address the safety of these streets, with a detailed plan that has already gone through public engagement and been approved by the City Council. It includes turning several one-way only streets back to two-way streets (they were originally two-way streets several decades ago before the period of “Urban Renewal”). Other streets in Durham that were formerly one-way streets have been converted to two-way successfully, so this is just a continuation of a proven solution. The plan also includes sheltered bus stops, bus only lanes, protected bike lanes, and sidewalk improvements. It is all designed in an effort to improve the safety and accessibility for all road users, even if you are in a car.

So what’s holding us back? Most of the major roadways, even in downtown, are completely owned and operated by NCDOT. So they have to approve these plans. Right now, based on comments made by a NCDOT employee in the April 26th article “Reckless Roxboro May Get a Revamp if Locals Can Persuade NCDOT”, it does not seem likely that they will approve the plans as the community and City of Durham wants them.

We have to persuade NCDOT to make sure that the safety improvements we all want get approved. To NCDOT, we ask that you listen to all the North Carolina communities that you serve. Our lives are in your hands.

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