Secondary and Cumulative Impacts Master Management Plan - 2014

TOWN OF MORRISVILLE

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

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