BY KIRK ROSS
Staff Writer
CARRBORO — The Carrboro Board of Aldermen on Tuesday night reviewed an extensive master plan for additional phases of the Morgan Creek Greenway, including a possible pedestrian bridge under Smith Level Road near Frank Porter Graham Elementary School.
In its meeting at Town Hall, the board heard from engineers working with Chapel Hill and Carrboro on the expanded greenway project. Construction is under way for expansion of the greenway from Merritt’s Pasture west, paralleling N.C. 54.
New phases under consideration aim to connect three schools — Frank Porter Graham Elementary, Culbreth Middle and Carrboro High — and more than a dozen neighborhoods. The trail would be paved and Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, with natural surface spurs.
In his presentation to the town, engineer Dan Jewell with Durham-based Coulter Jewell Thames said topography concerns would make a direct connection to Carrboro High difficult, and an alternate route is being explored. Steep slopes also will make work from the elementary school west more difficult.
Also on Tuesday night, the board opted to extend the town’s contract for banking services with Bank of America for six months in order to give the town staff and the board more time to review the impact of a proposed switch to a more local bank.
In other action, the board:
• received an update on transportation planning for Carolina North;
• adopted a resolution in support of the effort to stop coal use at the university’s Cameron Avenue co-generation plant;
• approved a modification for the Claremont subdivision to build three single-family homes on a site intended for six townhome units;
• approved a rezoning request on 500 N. Greensboro St. to allow for its use by Balance Studios;
• approved a sidewalk construction project in conjunction with the N.C. Department of Transportation on Elm Street;
• appointed Mayor Mark Chilton to the greenways commission and reduced the size of the board from 15 to 12 members. The slots eliminated include two of the four slots designated for representatives of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system and three alternate members, all of which are unfilled. The move changes the quorum on the committee from eight to six members.