Durham Leaders Take Next Steps Toward Our Vision for Safe & Healthy Streets
Whether long-time residents of Northeast Central Durham or new residents near Southpoint, whether working at Duke Medical Center or in a restaurant kitchen, most of us want Durham to be inclusive and vibrant, and everyone wants their friends and loved ones to come home safely. We all deserve to get around Durham on bike, on foot, on transit, or in a car without our loved ones worrying about whether we’ll be hit by a driver on our Durham streets.
Over the past month we’ve been reminded of the risks as three men have been killed in hit-and-run crimes while walking or biking on our streets. In response to these and too many preceding tragedies, our elected and staff leaders have been deepening their commitment to Vision Zero (see below), and they have been making steps toward greater investments in infrastructure that will slow driver speeds, make our streets safer for biking and walking, and improve access to the GoDurham bus system. In fact, the proposed City Budget and Capital Improvement Program includes nearly everything that we asked for:
Continuation of fare-free GoDurham and GoDurham ACCESS services
Fund the entire list of Transportation Department infrastructure projects plus design and engagement on Duke and Gregson/Vickers
Acceleration of the completion of projects by investing in staff (competitive wages and additional positions) and streamlining the project delivery process.
Much of the funding for these investments will require voter approval through the November 5 election. Over the past several months, the staff and Council have been taking the series of steps required to place a bond referendum on the November ballot to fund $115 million in sidewalk and street resurfacing projects. This is a common way for local governments to fund important community infrastructure, as in 2019 when city of Durham voters supported a $95 million affordable housing bond, and in 2022 when Durham county voters supported a $550 million bond for Durham Public schools, Durham Tech, and the Museum of Life and Science.
This November’s election is important for many reasons, but we will be focused on educating voters about the sidewalk and streets bond referendum and encouraging voters to register and turn out to vote. We know what can make Durham thrive for us all. By working together with community members and staff and elected representatives at all levels, we can design and deliver safe and healthy streets with complete biking and walking networks and great transit that not only connect and improve our neighborhoods, but protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and this place we call home, for generations to come.
Below are details about the decisions our local leaders are making, and the work that we have to do to realize the future that most everyone wants in Durham.
Advancing Vision Zero
In 2017, Durham City Council adopted a Vision Zero Resolution becoming an early adopter among North Carolina communities. This was an important step to set an intention to change Durham’s approach to traffic safety until we have zero deaths and serious injuries on our streets and highways. Since that time, many more communities across the country have committed to Vision Zero and taken steps to achieve it, establishing a record of promising practices. Three of those building blocks that have demonstrated to be necessary steps are:
Assigning a full-time, dedicated Vision Zero Coordinator;
Adopting a Vision Zero Action Plan that analyzes traffic data and street designs, prioritizing changes to infrastructure and policy;
Setting a specific year for achieving zero deaths and serious injuries, as well as interim milestones.
Last Spring, through advocacy from Bike Durham and the Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Commission, and with the leadership of Council member Javiera Caballero, the manager recommended and the Council adopted a budget funding a Vision Zero Coordinator position. Late last year Lauren Grove was hired in that role. You can hear from Lauren in this video interview.
Late last year transportation director Sean Egan also committed to completing a Vision Zero Action Plan by the end of 2024, and that effort is underway. This past Monday, the City Council adopted an update to the original Vision Zero Resolution, setting targets for reducing traffic deaths and serious injuries by 50% by 2035 and to zero by 2045. The entire updated resolution is worth reading. It lays out clearly the rationale for Vision Zero, and the steps that the staff is directed to take.
A Bond Referendum for Funding Safe and Healthy Streets
Following several years of discussion and preparation, the City Council is prepared to take action on June 17 to place a $115 million sidewalk and street resurfacing bond referendum on the November ballot (together with an $85 million parks and recreation bond). If the sidewalks and streets bond referendum is passed by the voters in November, they would directly provide:
$60 million to construct new sidewalks;
$30 million to fund city street paving and maintenance (each an opportunity to slow traffic, improve crossings, and add bicycle facilities);
$15 million to repair existing sidewalks and ADA curb ramps; and
$10 million to pave dirt and gravel streets within City limits.
We will share additional information in a following post about the specific projects to be constructed with these revenues, but it is important to know that these are projects that have already been in development and will be ready to move to construction in the next 2-3 years (link to staff presentation from April 18). The $115 million in bond revenues would create a reliable source of revenue to move these projects to completion in the fastest and least expensive way available. These new revenues would also make possible the funding of additional projects in the city’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP).
Proposed Budget and Capital Improvement Program
We had three specific asks for funding priorities that we made at the March 18 budget public hearing:
Continuation of fare-free GoDurham and GoDurham ACCESS services
Fund the entire list of Transportation Department infrastructure projects plus design and engagement on Duke and Gregson/Vickers
Acceleration of the completion of projects by investing in staff (competitive wages and additional positions) and streamlining the project delivery process.
The proposed budget (read excerpt) that City Manager Wanda Page released on May 20 includes funding to continue fare-free transit service for another year; funding for nearly every single request from the Transportation Department, including the feasibility study for Duke and Gregson/Vickers; and funding for staff salaries to make them competitive with the regional market.
The funding of all of these capital projects was made possible because of the proposed bond referendum for $115 million in sidewalks and street resurfacing projects. The bond referendum is also an important step in improving the project delivery process, creating a funding resource across multiple projects and several years that can be used to more flexibly respond to changes in projects costs and schedules. We can also see some of this flexibility being built into the CIP. For several projects, multiple years of funding are being made available in the upcoming fiscal year, which will allow staff to more seamlessly move from one stage of a project to another, without having to wait for another budget cycle to request additional funds.
We are excited about these decisions and steps that the city’s staff and elected leadership are taking to make our streets safe & healthy for everyone. We encourage you to join us in thanking them for their leadership and we invite you to join us as we educate voters about the sidewalk and street resurfacing bond referendum.