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6
Community Areas
6.3 Town Center
The Town Center Plan (2007) described a vision for creating a vibrant Town Center at Mor-
risville’s historic crossroads to help ensure that residents continue to enjoy the best qualities
of small-town living as the community grows. Key elements of the plan include:
•
Protecting the historic structures around Church Street;
•
Creating a community gathering place lined with small businesses and anchored
by a civic/cultural facility;
•
Establishing a Civil War park and a rural heritage park;
•
Linking the parks and other destinations with a network of sidewalks and green-
ways;
•
Investing in a variety of transportation improvements, including reworking Chapel
Hill Road (NC 54) into separate northbound and southbound segments in the Town
Center area, improving the intersection of Morrisville-Carpenter Road and Chapel
Hill Road, and installing roundabouts at selected locations to mark the transition
into the Town Center.
Transportation improvements in this area include widening Morrisville-Carpenter Road and
Aviation Parkway to four lanes, and improving NC 54 as described under Section 6.5. In
the Town Center, the proposed NC 54 cross-section will narrow to have fewer impacts on
existing development in this area. Improvements are planned for Church Street as well,
with a relatively narrow two-lane cross-section in the Town Center and a roundabout at
the intersection with Jeremiah Street.
6.4 Morrisville South
The southern area of Morrisville is nearly completely built out, along with the surrounding
land in Cary. The area has a suburban feel with a private golf course and larger homes.
Although vacant land is minimal, there is some potential for redevelopment. Park West
Village, a large mixed use project that will redevelop an industrial site, is located at the
western corner of the intersection of NW Cary Parkway and NC 54 and will change the
character of the intersection as well as potentially spur additional redevelopment in the
area. The parcels near Park West Village are included in the Southern Activity Center
(SAC) category, which means that redevelopment proposals for these parcels will be
considered within the context of the entire SAC, and design standards can be applied
to them to ensure compatibility with surrounding parcels. The area north of Park West
Village, currently occupied by smaller industrial distribution centers, offices, and apart-
ments could potentially redevelop as a result. Several land uses that the public would
like to see in that area are institutional, such as medical facilities and/or a senior center,
to complement the nearby senior housing. An older shopping center (Park Place) on the
southern corner of the intersection would also likely redevelop, probably replaced with
similar retail uses. Just east of the SAC, at the edge of Morrisville’s planning jurisdiction, are
several vacant or very low density residential parcels that have been designated for low
density residential in the future.
Morrisville Parkway is planned to be re-striped for bike lanes. Cary Parkway will remain a
four-lane median-divided roadway with wide outside lanes. Both roadways have sidewalk
on both sides. Bus service through C-Tran (Cary) will be available along Cary Parkway and
Weston Parkway, with potential future service along NC 54, and a greenway is planned
along the railroad in Park West Village, which will connect to another planned greenway
running from Community Park in the west to Cedar Fork County Park in the east.
6.5 Morrisville East
The eastern area of Morrisville is characterized by existing industrial uses and the larg-
est vacant area remaining in town. Major transportation improvements are planned
in this area with the extension of McCrimmon Parkway from Airport Boulevard to Avia-
tion Parkway. International Drive, where many of the industrial facilities are located,
is proposed to be extended north to Airport Boulevard to offer a more direct truck
route to the industrial facilities. Two smaller connectors will provide additional east-
west access in the area. Aviation Parkway is proposed to be widened to four lanes
with a planted median, bike lanes, and multi-use paths. Combined with the planned
widening of Aviation Parkway across Lake Crabtree in the Town of Cary’s jurisdiction,
the improvements will provide more efficient access to I-40.
In order to best utilize this area, this Plan recommends that a small area plan or master
plan be developed. Following are some of the considerations that such a plan would
need to address:
•
The following mix of uses may be appropriate in this area: offices, small scale retail
(e.g. restaurants, convenience services such as dry cleaning), and park space.
The
Town is looking at coordination to preserve a large contiguous area for open space or
recreation in this area, ideally open for public use.
Any retail in this area should be
specified to be for convenience uses within walking distance of offices, rather than
regional attractions. The small area plan should consider limiting the size of retail
establishments.
•
Although specific land uses are not recommended in this Plan, the area shall apply
design standards as described under this future land use category in Section 5.3.
•
Access management should be addressed on the proposed McCrimmon Parkway
extension, as CAMPO plans currently call for it to be designated as NC 54. Incor-
porating access management into plans would reduce the number of driveways
along the road, leading to smoother thru-traffic flow. It also would provide a safer
Historic Reverend R.E. Atkins House in the
Town Center along Church Street.
Lake Crabtree at dawn.
Rendering of pedestrian facilities and
gathering spaces in the upcoming
Park West Village development.