Can you get there from here via Barbee Rd?

Yes. For now.

Some history: NC Railroad takes a dim view of "at grade" (road level) RR crossings. They don't like them one bit. So they have a rule - whenever a municipality wants to add lanes across a track, they have to close lanes somewhere else. Makes sense from a safety perspective. (If you click, scroll to the last entry.) Morrisville added asphalt across the tracks on Morrisville-Carpenter Rd as part of the intersection improvements. Town leaders agreed to close the RR crossing on Barbee Rd to comply with the railroad's open-here-close-there rule.


Closing Barbee Rd will make traveling between Church St and Chapel Hill Rd more inconvenient, adding traffic to an already congested McCrimmon Rd. Worse, closing the east-west connector can impact public safety response times to homes and businesses in the North West part of Morrisville.


Enter NCDOT and potential stimulus funds for tunneling under the train tracks on Morrisville Pkwy. Grade separation funding is not a sure thing. But if ARRA funds are awarded, the Morrisville Pkwy tunnel will decrease the number of lanes across a railroad track by 4, giving us room to negotiate. Two of those four lanes should be offered as an alternative to closing Barbee Rd.

We'll know by December, about the time Barbee Rd is scheduled to close, whether or not the NCDOT funding request for the tunnel will be approved. The time to reopen negotiations between the town, North Carolina Railroad and Norfolk Southern is now.

This (other) Old House On the Move

Once known as Charlie Maynard's store, the structure too close to the improvemenets at NC54 & Aviation Pkwy sits in limbo at 10014 Chapel Hill Rd. That's soon to change. After months and months (and months) of Morrisville-Cary-Morrisville-Cary discussions, the turn of the century building will be moved, albeit temporarily and partly obstructed by a fence, between existing buildings at 10012 Chapel Hill Rd. If all goes well, the store from days gone by will find a permanent home as one of a trio of renovated buildings on NC 54. Credit goes to Yard-Nique.


And here's hoping that the progress that was the intersection improvement did not take a toll on the older-than-I-am tree beside the road more traveled.

Of Hats and Rings

"To make democracy work we must be a notion of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain." Louis L'Amour

The filing period for our November 3rd Morrisville election is closed. Throwing their hats in the ring are:

Mayor:
Jackie Holcombe
Jan Faulkner

District 2:
Steve Diehl
Mark Stohlman

District 4:
Margaret Broadwell
Creighton Blackwell
Catherine Willis
James Klopovic

At-Large:
Tom Murry
Lydia Martin
Michael Roberts

If you are one of Morrisville's 9828 registered voters, the hats in the ring should be tipped to you. If you are not, click here to download the form for Wake county. Now would be a good time, but no later than October 9th to register, change your address or party affiliation.

For those who have plans for November 3rd, you have options. No excuse early voting runs from Oct 15 - Oct 31.

The Heart of the Triangle - It's About the People

After much thoughtful consideration and with encouragement from my family, friends, neighbors and small business owners, I am pleased to announce my candidacy for Mayor of Morrisville.

As a 20 year Triangle resident, co-founder of Morrisville Action and former Town Commissioner I know well the issues of concern facing our Morrisville community: Traffic. Overspending. Misplaced priorities. Looming property tax hikes. Unexpected increases in water and sewer bills. Development density. Stormwater runoff and flooding. Clear cutting. Lack of public transportation. The list goes on and on.

But I also know our town’s strengths: Our geographical location, strong tax base and small business community all add to what makes the Heart of the Triangle a wonderful place to live. Our Morrisville history is a rich one and offers abundant opportunities for celebration and preservation. Our community is one of diversity of age, ethnicity and religion, a mix of newcomers and those whose local roots are generations long. We are protected and served by dedicated, professional public safety personnel and enjoy exemplary Parks & Rec programs. Here too, the list goes on and on.

But our most valuable asset by far are the people who call Morrisville home. We've seen time and again residents' commitment to our community, as committee members, as speakers at public hearings, as volunteers, as concerned neighbors, as activists. Our strength as a community is in our people. As your mayor, I bring to Morrisville residents a strong advocate's voice and a welcoming place at the table that is Morrisville town government.

I look forward to our campaign together and as always I welcome your comments, suggestions and concerns.

Jackie

“The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open.” - Gunter Grass

The Gift of Giving Back

One participant described our recent and very hot Saturday volunteering together this way:

"My daughter has autism and is a member of this really cool united cheerleading team (typical kids and special needs kids) The community has really supported this team by giving to our fundraising (two trips to Nationals in Orlando FL were completely paid for, two uniforms paid for etc) Anyway this was a project that needed to be done but the town didn't have the money or manpower to do it so they supplied materials and we supplied the man power (and GIRL power!) It was nice for our kids who receive so much help from others to be able to give back!"

It was indeed. The much needed facelift to the fence at Morrisville's Ruritan Park is now a work in progress, with a second work day scheduled for later this week.


And just as important as the cosmetic changes to the fence - the Super Star cheer team model of inclusion has expanded to community service. Thanks go to our coach, team members, their parents, siblings, friends, grandparents and town of Morrisville staff.



You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give.
-- Winston Churchill