Clemmons committee discusses pedestrian plan survey results

Published 12:07 am Thursday, July 27, 2023

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CLEMMONS — With the Village of Clemmons pedestrian plan survey in the rearview, the project’s steering committee met on Monday to review the results.

Seated around the room at the Jerry Long YMCA, committee members heard from Lyuba Zuyeva, a transportation planner, and Todd Doane, an urban planner and designer, with Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, a Charlotte-based firm hired for the study.

Zuyeva walked through aggregated data from the 875 survey responses and highlighted what rose to the top. For example, 26 percent of respondents said they walk daily, while 44 percent said they walk 2-3 times a week.

If Clemmons’ pedestrian network was improved, 50 percent of respondents said they would walk every day, representing a nearly 100 percent increase over current daily walkers.

The greenway trails in Clemmons were cited as the most preferred pedestrian facility, and sidewalks and shared-use paths were second on that list. Reasonably, respondents expressed discomfort with walking on just a wide shoulder.

Clemmons’ pedestrian plan survey revealed that most respondents get around via car. Fifty-seven percent of respondents expressed interest in walking or biking to daily destinations.

Another point of interest cited by respondents was better lighting and new rest areas.

The consulting team visited hot spots throughout Clemmons where traffic and pedestrians are most likely to interact.

Three areas centrally located within the village were identified: the market center area near Lowes Foods on Lewisville Clemmons Road, the YMCA and Publix area on South Peace Haven Road and the Food Lion on Kinnamon Village Loop. Those were only some of the grocery store areas that arose during the study. The Food Lion area on River Ridge Drive was also cited.

The other areas of interest were the Tanglewood entrance and the intersection of Middlebrook Drive and Idols Road.

Following their field visits, the consultants highlighted weaknesses and needs at the various points of interest throughout the village. At the YMCA-Publix space, they suggested improved pedestrian networks, such as sidewalks and crossings along Jessie Lane. Since the YMCA is a popular community hub, that area sees a lot of daily foot traffic. However, with partial crossings on Lewisville-Clemmons Road and South Peace Haven Road, it is difficult for pedestrians to cross. There is also a lot of conflict with turning vehicles.

At the Lewisville-Clemmons Road and Stadium Drive area, the consulting team determined that crosswalks and sidewalk improvements by Market Center Drive, such as an all-way stop and an extension of the current sidewalk.

Following the committee’s meeting, members will work to draft a scoring criteria to prioritize the projects. Various points of concern centered around safety, connectivity, equity and economic development.

Those points correlate with the goals and objectives of the project. As an example cited during the meeting, connectivity includes expanding the existing greenway network by adding unpaved trail connections through neighborhoods to connect to the larger planned regional greenway. Meanwhile, economic development could use pedestrian crossings to approach key commercial corridors and activity centers.

The steering committee plans to reconvene next month to review new proposals and possible amendments to the current draft.