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Part of the problem is what is the previous traffic? 10 years ago, O'Kelly Chapel was a dirt road at that spot and Green Level Church was just a 2 lane country road. Up until 6 or 7 years ago, O'kelly Chapel was still just a tar and gravel barely improved not even secondary road. It wasn't until 2006 or 07 that they put in the current road.
My experience of the area starts around 2004 when I biked back and forth between Raleigh and Chapel Hill on several occasions. O'Kelly Chapel was definitely paved for its whole length at that time. It may have been paved recently at that point.
As I recall you used to have to take Alston Avenue to get to O'Kelly Chapel. That segment of Alston was obliterated by construction of NC540 around 2006 or so. At that time, OKC was extended to end at NC55. You can still see the old alignment of Alston on aerials.
The road currently known as Green Level Church used to have three names; the southern part was Green Level Church (which was paved), the middle part from what's now Morrisville Carpenter to what's now O'Kelly Chapel was Green Level to Durham (which was partly a dirt road), and the north part was Alston Avenue (which was paved). The realignment that was just completed (which we are all complaining about) was the last piece of work left to stitch the three roads into one.
This ain't ancient history, it was just a few years ago!
It might also be worth getting a bunch of us who have been posting in this thread to speak at the next council meeting about the need for a stoplight there.
Here's what I wrote (email) to the Town Engineer and the City Council, I did hear back from my council person:
"Well, kudo's for straightening out the intersection but I'll be darn if I know why a signal wasn't put up there! Will it take a fatality like what happened at GLC and Cary Glen before action is taken? Please look carefully at fixing this."
And I signed my name. Have the courage of your conviction and let them know you are interested in this matter. Anonymous letters get little attention.
Hi folks, not sure if this was a result of the emails...but I saw a traffic surveyor in a blue BMW checking out traffic today during the evening rush (5-530). He had a white notepad and was writing observations down. The car was marked as well. I wonder if they were hired by the city or by a private group. Hopefully our concerns aren't going unanswered!
Here is the reply I got from David Spencer, Senior Engineer with the Engineering Department Traffic & Transportation Division of the Town of Cary:
Thank you for contacting us about this intersection. We have received quite a few calls and emails regarding this locations since its opening last week. As we speak, a private engineering firm is studying this intersection for signalization as a private development is responsible for installing the signal. Since both roads are owned by the State and maintained by NCDOT, a study following Federal Highway Administration standards must be completed before approving a signal. We expect to hear back this week whether the intersection warrants a signal.
The Town is fully supportive of a signal, but we must wait for approval from the State in order for the signal to be installed.
We will be observing the site during peak hours to determine if there are concerns that we need to address in the meantime while we wait for the results of the study and the possible construction of a signal.
Alston Ridge which is right down the road on Green Level is on Track out right now. All that traffic from all the buses and parents driving, 2x a day is not there right now. Its not a true reflection of the traffic. Hopefully it will warrent a light without that additional traffic but my concern all along was not the long wait time or inconviencence(although annoying) but the safety of all those 900 students that pass that interesaction 2x day.
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... no wonder traffic lights cost $100K
