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NEWS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2009 // PAGE 7
Town still waiting for
funding for proposed
construction projects
Plans for pedestrian and bike paths not altered
after Elon professor is killed in bicycle accident
Andie Diemer
Edilor-in-Chiet
The Town of Elen’s long-term project
to add miles of pedestrian and bike
paths has not changed after chemistry
professor Eugene Gooch was struck
and killed by a motorist while riding
tiis bicycle on University Drive on April
3.
The plan has a 2030 finish date. Part
of the reason for such a lengthy project
completion is because of funding
issues, Elen’s Town Manager Mike Dula
said.
At aTown of Elon meeting Sept. 9, the
Board of Aldermen unanimously voted
to pass the new Bicycle, Pedestrian and
Lighting Plan.
The project aims to create 20 more
miles of bike paths, five miles of
walkways with pedestrian lighting and
another five miles of paths for multiple
uses. Construction was set to start
within six months after being voted
on, Town Planner Sean Tencer said at
the meeting.
Currently, the town is waiting
until next month to hear back about
a grant they applied for. They are also
hoping for stimulus money through
North Carolina’s Department of
Transportation, Dula said.
He said if money starts flowing,
projects could start to take shape this
summer. But for right now, the plan is
still waiting for funding from multiple
grant programs, tax revenues and
stimulus money.
The plan has gotten tighter as sales-
tax revenue continues to fall, and the
town will also lose around $40,000 from
their budget as a result of Smithfield
Foods’ plant closing this summer as
part of a restructuring program.
Dula said there has been some
confusion, since the intention of the
plan was to have a guide for pedestrian
and bike path priorities when the
opportunities become available, acting
as an inventory of possible projects.
Who would fund what and how it
"ould be supplied was never decided,
Dula said.
“We wanted to be able to know
"hat our priorities were if grants or
partnerships came available,” Dula
Mid. “So there was never any idea that
"e would do that plan in the next few
®onths. It was just something we could
use as a reference to what we’d like to
Sfe done in town.”
A 6-foot-wide sidewalk costs $50 a
oot to build, according to the Piedmont
Triad Council of Governments, which
is overseeing the project and is taking
input from local residents, including
Elon students and Twin Lakes
Retirement Community residents.
Dula said the town wants to tackle
projects on Lebanon Avenue, Trollinger
Avenue and Oak Street, but that
depends each on grant money.
The projects on Trollinger Avenue
and Lebanon Avenue will definitely
wait until the tunnel under the
railroad track near the intersection
of Trollinger Avenue and S. O’Kelley
Avenue are complete later this year.
“We’re just trying to be timely with
when we decide to do something and
when we find a resource available,”
Dula said. “The plan was not put on
hold, it’s the same dynamic that it’s
always been.”
Dula said the town never planned
to implement projects on University
Drive, since it’s a state road and would
receive state funding.
He also said Gooch’s death has not
impacted the plan since it is technically
state territory.
Instead, Dula said they would
promote and encourage the idea of
widening University Drive after Cook
Road is widened.
“We are actively looking at resources
and hopefully in the next little while
we’ll have some announcements
about some of these priorities being
addressed,” Dula said. “We consider
the plan in place.”
TOP PRIORITIES IDENTIFIED
Sidewalks along Williamson,
Lebanon and Haggard Avenues
Multiple-use paths for botti
pedestrians and cyclists along
Williamson Avenue, connecting Beth
Schmidt Park and Ball Park Road,
and a shared-use ramp leading from
Twin Lakes to the multiple-use path
Bicycle lanes on Williamson,
Haggard and Westbrook Avenues
Intersection safety improvements at
six locations
Lighting improvements in various
corridors, especially University Drive
INFORMATION COURTESY OF
JESSE DAY, PCDMONT TRtAD
COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS
REGIONAL PLANNER
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_ . ^ LINDSEY FENDT | Staff Ptwtographer
Design Forum co-owners Della Faucette, left, and Polly Smith purchased the Victorian home on East
Trollinger Avenue from a friend.
- w
SARAH CARIDEO | Photographer
The staff Is
excited about
the move and
believe the
new location
will be a fun
place to work.
Design Forum relocates to
familiar Victorian home
Sarah Carideo
Reporter
On April 28, Design Forum Salon
and Spa will be open and ready for
business at their new location at 105
E. Trollinger Ave. in Elon.
The salon was originally located on
South Church Street in the West End
Shopping Center. The owner of the
white Victorian home next to the Elon
Post Office was a friend of co-owner
Polly Smith and approached her about
buying the space for the spa.
Smith and Design Forum’s other
owner, Della Faucette, could not resist
the opportunity.
The house and central location
made it an ideal site for the salon,
Faucette said.
Faucette grew up in Elon and said the
town, “makes everybody feel good.”
She said she looks forward to
having the salon established closer to
the town and university to be part of
that positive atmosphere even more.
The salon has always been involved
in the community by hiring locals and
Elon students.
She also said local clients and
students and faculty at Elon University
have always had “positive responses”
to the salon, so she is very excited to
increase their clientele as a result of
the walking distance.
“I was not aware of the move, but
that’s really great and convenient
because many students do not have
cars, so it is hard to go to salons in the
area,” sophomore Evelyn Frederickson
said.
Design Forum is a full-service
salon that has been in business for
more than 20 years. Salon and spa
treatments are provided for both men
and women.
The staff provides services such as
haircuts, styles, dying and extensions,
as well as hair removal, manicures
and pedicures, facials, massages and
body wraps.
They also use and sell products
like Bumble and Bumble, Goldwell,
L’Oreal and Dermalogica.
Additionally, the salon will rent out
rooms to local merchants, which will
feature jewelry, clothing, small gifts
and upscale dresses and handbags.
There is still one room available
to rent.
Faucette describes the combination
of the salon and spa with the shopping
opportunities as being a “boutique
house" that can function as a “one-
place service.”
She said she does not anticipate
any negatives result from the move
and said it’s just “a real good thing,”
so she will not miss the old location.
Faucette also said she hopes Design
Forum’s fun atmosphere will make
the customers feel welcome.
For more information about Design
Forum Salon and Spa, visit:
www.designforumsalon.com or call
(336) 585-1919.