Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2010 08:56:24 -0400
From: Mia Munn <>
Subject: US 64
Tom,
You said “The Superstreet design is proposed because it can handle traffic at intersections without the cost of cloverleaf land acquisition and construction. Imagine a school bus waiting at the US64 and NC 751 intersection for 5 minutes, waiting for a break in traffic to cross, competing with 51,000 other vehicles for access on an open
access highway, as it is now.”
There are traffic lights at those intersections now, so no school bus has to wait to try to dodge across traffic. With the Superstreet, in order to cross the intersection, the bus will have to make a right turn, quickly cross several lanes of traffic, in order to enter the turn lane (with a light) to make a U-turn, followed by another right turn. That is
considerably more dangerous than driving straight through an intersection on a green light. (I frequently have to do this at Europa Dr and 15-501 in Chapel Hill – I don’t like doing it in a car.) If there is a problem with left turns, then simple turn lanes and turn signals solve the problem.
The US 64 proposal is not intended to help local traffic in Chatham County – the intention is to bring a lot of traffic into the county, driving straight between Cary/Raleigh and Charlotte. Superstreets do work well for the vehicles going straight, but most Chatham County folks make turns at one or more of those intersections.
Mia Munn