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Town Center Plan
January 2007
ed base maps in order to solicit their ideas
and input. At the end of the evening, a
representative from each table presented
the ideas generated by that group. Common
themes from participants included:
• Protecting historic character in the Town
Center;
• Providing civic uses, small businesses,
and residential uses;
• Strengthening the visual identity of the
Town Center;
• Ensuring safe pedestrian access; and
• Managing physical constraints, including
roads, railroads, and flood zones.
The design team worked intensively over the
next two days to incorporate these comments
into a draft concept design for the Town
Center, and then presented this draft design
to the public. Key features include:
• Protection of the historic crossroads
community around Church Street;
• Creation of a community gathering place
lined with small businesses and anchored
by a civic/cultural facility;
• Establishment of a Civil War Park and
Rural Heritage Park;
• Linkage of parks with a system of
greenways;
• Investment in transportation improve-
ments, including reworking NC 54 into
separate northbound and southbound
segments in the Town Center area, add-
ing an eastbound turn lane on Morrisville-
Carpenter Road at the intersection with
NC 54, and installing roundabouts at se-
lected locations to mark the transition into
the Town Center.
More than 75 people attended the presenta-
tion of the concept design and provided ad-
ditional feedback. The consultants used this
input to make further revisions. A detailed
description of the concept design begins on
the following page.
The Planning Team then held an additional
public meeting in August to discuss
implementation strategies. About 30 people
attended and participated in small group
sessions to review potential implementation
strategies, ask questions, and provide input.
A summary of the input received is included
in Appendix 7.
Throughout this process, the planning effort
has received coverage in local newspapers
and on television. Samples of news stories
are included in Appendix 8.
Residents and consultants share ideas and mark up
maps at the Town Center Design Workshop. (Photo:
Ben Hitchings, Town of Morrisville)
A Morrisville resident presents the input from her group
at the Town Center Design Workshop. (Photo: Bynum
Walter, Town of Morrisville)
Chapter 2: Planning Process & Concept Design