Starting Monday, September 18 (weather-permitting), Robert Walker Drive between the intersection of Davidson-Concord Road and the greenway crossing (just before entering into the Bailey Springs neighborhood) will be closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic for three months, as part of the WestBranch development construction process.
During this time, vehicular traffic will be routed onto WestBranch Parkway (a new road created by the developer) – please see area highlighted in yellow below. Pedestrian traffic will be able to access the greenway using the new sidewalk along Davidson-Concord Road from the intersection of Robert Walker Drive (see area highlighted in blue below).
“With the traffic pattern change, drivers will need to slow down for the adjustment, and be cognizant of school bus traffic and pedestrians that will be traveling in this area,” said Davidson Police Chief Penny Dunn. “We want to ensure that all of our citizens are safe during this construction period.”
aShortChronicle sent some follow-up questions to the town regarding this notice. Here is what Christina Shaul had to say.
Q: Will the big sidewalk be completed from Robert Walker down to the new road prior to this? A:Yes, the multiuse path will be complete from Robert Walker to the greenway, crossing over the new road, West Branch Parkway.
Q: Will any sidewalk be completed along the new road down to where it intersects with Robert Walker prior to the closing? A:Not prior to the closing of Robert Walker. There is to be sidewalk on both sides of this section of the parkway and as townhomes are constructed, the sidewalk on the development side will be completed commensurate. The sidewalk on the outer side of the parkway will likely be installed nearer to completion of this section, to ensure it isn’t damaged as construction is ongoing.
Q: When did the town first learn about this closure? A: This closing was discussed during the Master Plan process; we hoped that it would have occurred over the summer, when school was not in session. Due to a delay in the construction drawing phase, this closure got delayed as well.
Below is a drawing from the Master Plan showing a cross section of the impacted section of Robert Walker once done.
Also, if you are curious about the term "multiuse path" in the answe to the first question. Here is another picture. As far as aShortChronicle can tell, "multiuse path" and "big sidewalk" are the exact same thing. However, the term multiuse path does sound much cooler and more important. So cool and more important in fact that multiuse paths are the sigle biggest category of items in this year's overall $15 million bond proposal.
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