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TOWN OF MORRISVILLE
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motorized travelers. In other cases, single-use pathways will be developed for either
pedestrians or bicyclists.
The Town applied for and obtained Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds
through Wake County to construct sidewalks along Church Street, and along Barbee Road
and Fiona Circle. A number of other public-funded road projects are currently in the
planning stages, including widening with sidewalks along Morrisville-Carpenter Road, and
installation of sidewalks along NC 54 near NC 540. The bicycle network also will connect
people with places, and the Town’s focus is on a regional network. Bicycle lane
recommendations, presented in the 2009 Transportation Plan, are likely to occur along with
planned road widening. The Town is also working with NCDOT to incorporate 2-foot-wide
bicycle lanes along future roadways. New developments are constructed with bike lanes,
where appropriate, as occurred along Crabtree Crossing Parkway, Preston Village Way, and
Upchurch Meadow Road. In some instances, restriping can provide bicycle lanes without
widening the road, as occurred in Parkside Valley Drive in 2007; this process is
recommended in the Transportation Plan for Morrisville Parkway, Perimeter Park Drive,
and Paramount Parkway.
Another example of regional cooperation is the Center for Regional Enterprise (CORE)
Pedestrian-Bicycle-Green Space plan, sponsored by the Triangle J Council of Governments.
As part of this effort, the connectivity of greenways and open space is discussed on a
regional basis. The Towns of Morrisville and Cary, as well as the Cities of Raleigh and
Durham, participated in this effort. The plan was initially adopted in 2005, and updated in
2009 and 2012. The 2012 update notes Davis Drive, a portion of which lies within
Morrisville, as a top priority bicycle corridor.
An important component of the development of a non-vehicular transportation network is
landscaping and vegetation. The vegetation planted along walkways and bicycle paths
provides security for users. The Town’s Transportation Plan recommends that the vegetated
area for pathways be a minimum of 3 to 8 feet wide, depending on the road type. Street
trees also are recommended to provide shade, protection, and shelter for walkers and bikers
(Louis Berger Group, 2009a).
6.2.3
Riparian Buffers and Floodplain Protection
6.2.3.1 Riparian Buffers
The Neuse River NSW rules and Jordan Lake Rules require that existing riparian buffer
areas be protected and maintained on both sides of intermittent and perennial surface
waters. These rules are incorporated into the Town’s UDO. This ordinance requires 50-foot-
wide, undisturbed riparian buffers on all perennial and intermittent streams, lakes, and
ponds that are indicated on the most recent version of a USGS quadrangle topographic map
or the County soil survey map. USGS topographic maps do not always include accurate
depictions of streams. As a delegated authority for buffers, the Engineering Department is
responsible for stream origin determinations and implementation of the riparian buffer
ordinance; NCDWR’s methodology to determine whether a stream is present is followed.
The Town requires that developers identify the location of streams on their site plans; a
developer must delineate the top of bank of streams through field surveys in order to
accurately show the 50 foot buffer extents. The Town and other municipalities recognize
that the maps contain more streams than actually exist; therefore, where conflicts exist