During the 2016 National Regional Transportation Conference, Ann Stroobant, Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments (NC), discussed the rural town corridor planning process for Bickett Boulevard in Louisburg, North Carolina.

2. I. About Louisburg, North Carolina

3. Location of Louisburg, North Carolina

4. Court House-E. Nash &
Main Historic Home-Middle St.
Town Hall-Nash St. Louisburg College-N. Main St.

5. II. About Bickett Boulevard between
Burke & Nash (Existing Conditions)

6. Louisburg Zoning Map Nov. 2008
Louisburg, North Carolina
Bickett Boulevard (US 401) from Burke Boulevard to Nash Street
Along 1.37 Mile Segment-Highway Business, Heavy Industrial &
Single Family Residential
Historic District
Bickett Boulevard Study Area

8. Louisburg, NC-
Annual
Average Daily
Traffic (AADT)
from NCDOT
produced by
the Traffic
Survey Group,
Franklin
County, 2013

9. Data and Map from NCDOT Safety Planning Group
Crash Data-Individual Crashes 7/1/2009-6/30/2014

10. 0
100
200
300
400
500
Total Crash
Rate
Fatal Crash
Rate
Non Fatal
Crash Rate
Night
Crash Rate
Wet Crash
Rate
Severity
Index
Statewide Average
Louisburg
How Bickett Boulevard, Louisburg Compares to Statewide Average Crash Rates:*
North Carolina Statewide Average Bickett Boulevard, Louisburg
Total Crash Rate 300.78 405.14
Fatal Crash Rate 1.19 1.93
Non Fatal Crash Rate 99.21 138.90
Night Crash Rate 55.31 50.16
Wet Crash Rate 48.74 54.02
Severity Index 4.02 3.90
*This portion of Bickett Boulevard (US Route
401) is classified as a 4+ Lanes Continuous Left
Turn Lane in an Urban setting. The statewide
averages are based on a 3 year crash rate
between 2009-2011. The 1.37 mile section of
Bickett Boulevard located between Burke
Boulevard and Nash Street in Louisburg
compares to the 260 miles of roadways in North
Carolina with the same type lane configurations.
Data Supplied by NCDOT Mobility and
Safety Division &NCDOT District Engineer
9/18/14

11. Map 2
1
2
3

12. III. What We Did
• All work done as an in-house
collaboration with the Town of
Louisburg & NCDOT
• Working Group presentations,
research, field trip
• Questionnaire to public
• Public Input Meeting
• Production of final document

13. Working Group
Hillandale Road Site Visit
with Follow–up at NCDOT District Offices,
Durham
September 29th, 2014

14. From Ian Lockwood, Toole Design Group

15. From Danny Pleasant, Director, Charlotte DOT

16. Designated Pedestrian Crossings Needed

17. Imagine Bickett Boulevard Working Group Mission Statement and Goals:
Mission Statement:
To improve safety for all travelling on Bickett
Boulevard between Burke Boulevard and
Nash Streets while improving the aesthetics,
supporting local economic development and
allowing for multimodal transportation
choices resulting in reduced congestion and
minimized crashes.

18. Goals:
• Improve safety through access management by creating medians
allowing for safe left turns and U-turns as well as creating signalized
intersections with pedestrian crossings to accommodate vehicles,
cyclists and pedestrians
• Stimulate economic development by infilling vacant or underused
sites, considering mixed-use development where possible with
buildings closer to the street and parking at the rear or side to
enhance the pedestrian environment
• Improve the aesthetics along the route with street trees, planted
medians, sidewalks, uniform signage, improved lighting and
underground utilities while incorporating shared parking lots and
creating the best efficiency of driveways
• Incorporate bus routes with shelters, bike routes and sidewalks along
Bickett Boulevard to tie in to the existing network

19. Safe Access is Good for Business, P.12
Access Management:

20. Hillandale Road - Planted Median
Benefits: Aesthetics, Unified Streetscape

21. Benefits: Improving Safety
 By reducing
conflicts, Access
Management
reduces crashes
From: Access Management, Florida DOT, P.3

22. Benefits of Improved Access Management
• Improves vehicular safety and access
• More room for landscaping
• Accommodates a unified streetscape
• Presents an opportunity to organize signs
• Allows space for bike routes with improved safety
• Allows for safer pedestrian access
• Provides potential to connect adjacent parking
lots, thus increasing the opportunity for patronage
of adjacent businesses for multiple and
convenient shopping stops
• Preserves the road capacity and improves traffic
flow

23. Side Street and Sharing Access

24. Shared Residential Access
From: NCDOT, Policy On Street And
Driveway Access to North Carolina
Highways, July 2003, P.38

25. Improve Internal Site Design

26. Conceptual Ideas:
Before:
• No sidewalk
• No pedestrian crossing
• No stop light at Franklin
Plaza
• No landscaping
After:
• Signalized and marked
pedestrian crossing
• Stop light with arms
added at Franklin
Plaza
• Sidewalk added
• New landscaping
Bickett Blvd. at Franklin Plaza

27. Conceptual Ideas:
Before:
• No Sidewalk
• Center turn lane
allows for multiple
conflict points
After:
• Sidewalk added on
both sides of road
• Lane marked for
cyclists
• Planted median
with gap allowing
for left turns and
U-turn
Bickett Blvd. near McDonald’s,
Wendy’s and Burger King
(around 328-332 S. Bickett)

28. Bickett and Nash with Improvements
• Stop Light Arms with Overhead Road Signs
• Pedestrian Crossing (Timed)
• Planted Median with Pedestrian Refuge
• Sidewalks on Both sides of Street
• Bike Paths
• Mixed Use (Businesses/Apartments) Close to Street with
Parking Behind
• Pull in for Buses
• Buried Power Lines
• Parking Behind Buildings
• Consolidation of Driveways
Conceptual Ideas:
Bickett and Nash Indicating Possible
Improvements
Before:
After:

29. 29
Source: NCDOT Congestion Management Group
A type of intersection in which
minor cross-street traffic is
prohibited from going straight
through or left at a divided
highway intersection. *
•Minor cross street
traffic must turn right,
but can then access a
U-turn to proceed in
the desired direction.
*Other configurations possible based on site specific conditions.

31. Hillandale Rd., Durham, NC

32. Areas of Concern Mentioned in Survey:

33. Some additional Responses to Questions
*

34. Public Input
Meeting

35. IV. What is happening so far and next steps
• Continuation of ongoing CMAQ projects
• NCDOT safety project/discretionary project
• Successful grant application to CTAA Rural Passenger Technical Assistance
Program (draft plan in progress with consultant)
• Inclusion of 1.37 mile segment in current state Prioritization Process (P4.0)
(The project scores in the low 40’s at the Regional level and gets more
KTRPO local points because of the study-is doing better than in P3.0.)
• Possible breaking of 1.37 mile segment down into fragments to see if the
individual parts will score better in next Prioritization Process (P5.0)

36. Signalized and Marked Pedestrian Crossing with Sidewalk Linking to
Ongoing CMAQ Project

37. Kerr-Tar received
funding from the
Community
Transportation
Association of
America (CTAA)
Rural Passenger
Technical
Assistance Program
towards developing
a fixed route
transportation
service around
Louisburg,
equivalent to the
Roxboro Uptown
Shuttle.

38. Thank You!