4The Daily Tar Heel Friday, September 23, 1988
Residents petition foir traffic
light
By JESSICA LANNING
Staff Writer
' Many Chapel Hill residents are
raising concerns again about the
installation of a traffic light at the
intersection of Mason Farm Road
and the U.S. 15-501 bypass.
Traffic on one side of the Mason
Farm Road-U.S. 15-501 intersection
includes the Aldersgate United Meth
odist Church and the St. Thomas
More Catholic School and Convent.
On the other side, traffic includes
the Highland Woods residential area,
the N.C. Botanical Gardens, Finley
Golf Course, the Ronald McDonald
House of Chapel Hill, the University
playing fields and several fraternity
houses.
This heavy volume of traffic, and
the almost constant traffic on the
bypass, make turning in either direc
tion onto the bypass difficult.
. Since the intersection is under the
jurisdiction of the state, approval and
funds for a stoplight at the intersec
tion must come from the N.C.
Department of Transportation
(DOT).
. Residents kicked off the effort to
get state approval at the town council
meeting, where several residents of
the area spoke of the need for the
light.
-. The town council instructed the
Report to
By LARRY STONE
Staff Writer
i A recently completed study rates
tar the first time the five most
dangerous intersections in Chapel
Mill.
! ; The list was compiled by analyzing
tfie intersections with the greatest
qumber of accidents in 1987.
! ; Mike Taylor, an engineer for the
town, said this first report has not
Seen released, and even when it is,
corrections will not be made auto
matically at the five intersections.
The intersection in Chapel Hill
with the greatest number of accidents
last year was the Europa Road U.S.
'. 15-501 intersection. Twenty-three
town engineer to look into the issue
again and to contact the DOT about
the possibility of getting a stoplight
installed. A proposal has been made
before, but it was denied.
Persis Van Wyk, a Highland
Woods resident and member of the
Highland Woods Homeowner's
Association, is a strong advocate of
the installation of the light.
"During rush hour it is utterly
impossible to make a left-hand turn,"
Van Wyk said.
School buses are no longer allowed
to make left turns out of the neigh
borhood onto the bypass and now
must make right turns, which still
causes a wait, she said.
Van Wyk felt there was a great deal .
of support at the town council
meeting from the neighborhood
residents. The residents, however,
represent only a small portion of the
traffic using the road, she said.
"Our experience in a lot of places
is that they (DOT) drag their feet until
someone, is killed, Van Wyk said.
"Of course, then it's too late."
Barbara Palmer, manager of the
Ronald McDonald House of Chapel
Hill, said she believes visitors to the
house, who are unfamiliar to Chapel
Hill and its traffic patterns, would
benefit from the installation of the
light, since they must make a left turn
to reach the hospital. .
On the other side of the road, traffic
from St. Thomas More Catholic
School would no longer be able to
use Carmichael Road to reach the
Glen Lennox overpass. So they too
would have the problem of accessing
the bypass,' a school spokesman said.
Ernie Mallard, the assistant state
traffic engineer for field operations,
said the town's request for the
stoplight will be submitted to John
Watkins, the DOT division engineer
in Greensboro.
Watkins staff will then update the
traffic count in that area and conduct
an accident history on the intersec
tion, Mallard said.
If a stoplight is warranted at the
intersection, the proposal will be put
on a list of available funding, Mallard
said. If the funds are available, the
light will be installed.
The biggest delay is receiving traffic
counts. There is a backlog of projects
to be considered, and a count may
take several weeks to get, Mallard
said.
Mike Taylor, an engineering tech
nician for the Town of Chapel Hill,
said a considerable number of acci
dents at this intersection have not
been reported by the police depart
ment to the motor vehicle division.
Mason Farm Road is also very
close to the Manning Drive intersec
tion, Taylor said. Since this intersec
tion already has a stoplight; some
people question the need for another
one. However, there are other con
ditions that may warrant the instal
lation of a second stoplight.
Another delay in getting the stop
light is a result of the plan to widen
U.S. 15-501 to four lanes, Taylor said.
There are no final construction plans
for the widening yet, but DOT
officials have said they want to wait
until the four-laning project is com
plete before any new stoplights are
installed.
Residents of the Highland Woods
area often resort to passing through
the Botanical Gardens parking lot, up
Laurel Hill Road and on to Coker t
Drive to the traffic light at Manning
Drive in order to access the bypass.
The proposal to close Laurel Hill
Road through the Botanical Gardens
would eliminate the cut through and
cause even more traffic to have to
enter the 15-501 intersection at Old
Mason Farm Road.
Van Wyk was supportive of closing
of the road, but felt it should only
be eliminated if there was an alter
native. "It's not an easy decision, I
know." ;
1st dangerous intersections
accidents occurred at that intersection
in 1987.
Next was the Estes Drive Franklin
Street intersection, which accounted
for 20 accidents in 1987.
The intersection of Airport Road
and Estes Drive had the third highest
number of accidents, followed by the
Columbia Street Rosemary Street
intersection and the Eastowne Drive
U.S. 15-501 intersection.
Taylor said the next step after
looking at this study will be to
examine the severity of the accidents
and the ratio of accidents to the
number of vehicles which travel
through the intersection.
"We want to try to correct the areas
where the accidents are the most
serious," Taylor said. "The most
common accident is the rear-end at
slow speeds.
"Those are not of the serious nature
that a Class A would be."
A Class A accident is one in which
, someone is killed.
The engineers will also look for
patterns in accidents over several
years, especially in areas where the
number has steadily progressed,
Taylor said.
"I guess the main thing the report
will trigger is more study," he said.
"We can eliminate wasting time with
people calling in saying 'this is a
terrible intersection'.
"We can start with the worst cases
first."
The report will not mean that
immediate action will be taken at any
of the intersections, Taylor said.
"We can't look at the report and
say we will fix this, this, and this,"
he said. "It certainly needs more
study."
The community will be able to
study the report when it is released
by the Town of Chapel Hill at the
beginning of next week. This report
, is supposed to be the first of what
will become an annual project.
New '''developers, to
bong in money' for
Rosemary Square
By AMY WEISNER
Staff Writer
They needed $25 million.
They're trying to develop a
downtown hotel-shopping com
plex which some residents have
called "a three-story hole on the
corner of Rosemary and Hender
son streets."
They are Fraser Development
Company of North Carolina, and
they believe they have finally
found the cash for their baby
Rosemary Square.
Fraser has resorted to importing
two multi-million dollar real estate
developers, who will hold 80
percent of the equity interest in the
"locally-owned" project.
The Algernon Blair Group of
Montgomery, Ala., and Aircoa
Equity Interest Inc. of Denver,
Colo., are the two newest partners.
"Fraser Morrow Daniels (the
partners) simply did not have deep
enough pockets," Chapel Hill
Mayor Jonathan Howes said.
The Chapel Hill Town Council
voted Sept. 12 to allow the two
new partners to join the develop
ment group, and they also granted
the proposal its fifth closing date
extension.
"The two (new partners) had the
financial capital available," Howes
said. "We checked them both out
thoroughly, and we found them
both to be very experienced
developers." '
Fraser Development and the
Town of Chapel Hill entered into
an agreement on the Rosemary
Square project in February 1985.
Since that time, various delays
have plagued the extremely con
troversial project planned for
town-owned land.
While Algernon Blair and Air
coa have had considerable invol
vement in other North Carolina
projects, they are not locally
owned and operated companies.
And some town council
members did not welcome the new
developers with open arms.
Town council member Jim
Wallace has been an outspoken
opponent of the project almost
from the beginning. He voted
against the proposal to add the
new partners and grant another
' extension.
"In the beginning we had these
two young fellows here in Chapel
Hill, but then at the last minute,
when they haven't got a dime, they
bring in two huge outside devel
opers," Wallace said. "What hap
pened to the local boys? They
disappeared."
Contrary to Wallace's opinion,
. Howes said, "Fraser was a mixed
group from the beginning since
Fraser himself was one of the
original developers in Hilton
Head, South Carolina."
According to Howes, Algernon
Blair is the general construction
contractor who recently closed on
the Mecklenburg County Munic
ipal Building in Charlotte.
The company is a subsidiary of
Algernon Blair Inc., whose annual
sales volume reached $90 million
in 1987.
Aircoa, the nation's largest
independent hotel operator, is
primarily associated with the
Clarion Inc. hotel chain. Council
members predict that a Clarion
hotel will probably be the hotel
that occupies Rosemary Square.
Walter Daniels of Fraser Devel
opment said, "They (Algernon
Blair and Aircoa) have recently
completed several public-private
projects very similar to Rosemary
Square and fully understand the
long public process, delays (and)
changes in this type of venture."
ounce examine connection In recent assault cases on campus
By ANDREW WATERS
Staff Writer
-Two separate assaults that
occurred on campus late Tuesday
night were committed by some of the
same assailants, said Sgt. Ned Comar
of University police.
"Some of the same guys at the
second assault were involved in the
first assault," Comar said.
The assaults, which were commit
ted at 11 p.m. and 11:15 p.m.
Tuesday, added to the list of recent
crimes on campus, including an
armed robbery Sept. 13 and a sexual
assault Sept. 10. The recent crimes
have raised many questions about
student safety.
In the first assault a woman and
a man were sitting on a wall near
Vance Hall. A group of men came
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up to the couple and one put his
hands on the woman. The woman's
companion told the man to stop and
was struck from behind by another
man in the group.
The second assault occurred when
two men were walking by Silent Sam
and a larger group of men passed by
them. As the two groups passed each
other two of the men touched
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shoulders. A man in the large group
asked the two men if they had a
problem. The two men attempted to
keep walking but one of the men in
the large group struck the victim on
the back.
The woman from the first assault
identified the man who touched her
but refused to press charges against
the man. The other victims could not
identify the assailants, Comar said.
Comar said one reason that people
might not press charges in cases like
these is that they think taking the
person to court is not going to do
any good.
"People don't see a court case as
a way to solve this kind of problem,"
Comar said.
Anne Presnell, Scott Residence
College area director, said area
directors (AD's) encourage students
to take normal security precautions,
such as walking in pairs and avoiding
dark places. AD's have also provided
programs, presented by resident
.assistants and student government,
dealing with safety on campus.
Donald Boulton, vice chancellor of
Student Affairs, agreed that personal
precaution is the best way to handle
danger. "Please don't be walking the
campus by yourself," he said. '
"People have always heard that
Chapel Hill is the southern part of
heaven, but we have pockets of hell
here," he said. "This place is real.
People think that Chapel Hill, as is
any college campus, is fair game for
robbery and assault."
Fred Schroeder, dean of students,
said campus officials always want
people to be on guard. "There's
always the normal level of concern
about people wanting to protect
themselves." But since the rumors of
several rapes on campus were dis
pelled, students' concern about pro
tecting themselves dropped off, he
said.
rly-'--irir--
ANNOUNCING
STUDENT AFFAIRS SERVICE
RECOGNITION
AWARD
The 1988 Orientation Counselors from the
following residential areas
STOW SCOTT
MOREHEAD EHRINGHAUS
OLDE CAMPUS JAMES
HENDERSON MORRISON
GRANVILLE
and the JUNIOR TRANSFER COUNSELORS
are recognized for the outstanding performance of
their duties as counselors for
New Student Orientation.
Thank you and congratulations for a job well
done. Also, the Morehead Confederation is this
year's recipient of the Rufus Edwards Stutts
Award for Outstanding Team Spirit during
Orientation 1988. Congratulations to Olde Campus
as first runnerup for this award.
Donald A. Boulton, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs
Shirley Hunter, Director of Orientation