We ran a Troubleshooter story in Saturday's N&O about about traffic concerns on Mt. Carmel Church Road, a road many take between Chatham County and U.S. 15-501 or to get to the university and hospital.
The story noted how many residents want a stop light at Bennett Road, where DOT plans to install left turn lanes. We didnt have room in that story to add some numbers about speeding near the intersection. As one who drives down MLK from nothern Chapel Hill each morning, I can attest that drivers all over Orange County seem to see speed limits as advisory only.
Here are statistics from a 24-hour traffic study along Mt. Carmel Church Road July 3. During that time period DOT found the following:
Traffic travelling North on Mt. Carmel:
4800 cars travelled this direction during the 24 hour period
Average speed: 45 mph
93% of vehicles exceed posted speed limit
15% of traffic are travelling at an average of 52.9 mph
Traffic travelling South on Mt. Carmel:
4700 cars travelled this direction during the 24 hour period
Average speed: 48.8 mph
During peak times there is a 2.7-3 second gap between cars
Mid day the gap is 1 minute
"These numbers will mean more to your readers if they are reminded that this is a 2 lane road and that the lanes on this road are narrower than NCDOT standards," writes reader Jeanne Brown, who sent us the DOT figures. "The posted speed limit along this stretch is 35 mph due to the fact that there are several large neighborhoods (in excess of 100 homes) that access the road here. In addition, the road currently does not have shoulders."
Thank you, Jeanne
