Late-breaking news from the North Carolina Department of Transportation at this morning’s meeting of the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization: With the completion of the latest statewide prioritization of transportation projects, NCDOT programmed funds for three important pedestrian and bicycle projects in Carrboro.

1. A sidewalk on the north side of Jones Ferry Road from Davie Road to Main Street. This project will complete a large gap in a heavily used portion of Carrboro’s sidewalk network in the most densely populated part of town.

2. A sidewalk on Barnes Street between Jones Ferry Road and King Street. This project will connect residential areas in and around the Lincoln Park and Whispering Hills neighborhoods to the major pedestrian corridor on Jones Ferry Road.

3. And now for the big one: Sidewalks and bike lanes on Estes Drive between N Greensboro Street and the town limit (and continuing to Martin Luther King Jr Blvd in Chapel Hill). This project promises to improve one of Carrboro’s biggest problem areas for pedestrians and cyclists. It will take time for the project to move through public comment, design, right-of-way acquisition, and construction, but we’re finally on the list.

While those of us on the policy-making board of the MPO have the fun of making decisions about which projects to submit for funding, the real work is done by professional staff on the technical committee. This committee includes staff from the Carrboro Planning Department, who worked hard this year (as they do every year) to identify projects that meet our community’s needs and have a strong likelihood of receiving funding. I’d say they’ve had a good year.