Morrisville Town Center Plan - 2007

Chapter 1: Existing Conditions

Overview This chapter of the plan summarizes the existing conditions in the project area. It includes a description of themajor natural and built features, as well as themarket conditions that exist for potential new development in this area. In summarizing these features, this chapter also identifies a number of design opportunities and challenges that were identified and considered by participants in the planning process. Project Area The Town Center lies at a natural and human crossroads. Major physical characteristics include creeks, floodplains, major roadways, and a rail line, as well as parks and civic facilities such as the Morrisville Town Hall (see Map 1). The project area is divided into a Core area comprised of about 340 acres, centered around the historic crossroads at the intersection of Church Street and Morrisville- Carpenter Road, and a larger Boundary area that totals 702 acres, including the Core area (see Map 2). The Town Center lies within the Neuse River Basin near the ridge line with the Cape Fear River Basin. Crabtree Creek passes along the southern edge of the project area as it flows east into Lake Crabtree.

Indian Creek and Sawmill Creek feed Crabtree Creek from the north. Each of these streams has a substantial floodplain. Altogether, a total of about 20% (69 acres) of the Core area is located in the floodway and the 100- year floodplain.

The crossroads and rail line that helped establish Morrisville as a community remain major physical features of the Town Center area. The rail line continues to serve as a major corridor for freight traffic and passenger service, and provides the future possibility for Morrisville to once again have local passenger service by train as it did in the period from the 1850s to the 1930s. At the same time, safety considerations with oncoming trains have limited the number of at-grade crossings allowed across the line, slowing automobile travel, and creating a significant barrier to bicyclists and pedestrians trying to move east and west through the project area. The high volume of automobile traffic along Chapel Hill Road (NC 54), Aviation Parkway, and Morrisville-Carpenter Road brings high visibility to this part of town, as tens of thousands of cars pass through it every day on their way to and from Research Triangle Park, Interstate 40, Raleigh-Durham International Airport, and other destinations. At the same time, the high traffic volume impedes access to a number of destinations within the Town Center, and impacts pedestrian safety. This The high volumes of traffic at the intersection of Chapel Hill Road (NC 54) and Morrisville-Carpenter Road bring both high visibility and access problems to the Town Center. (Photo: S. Galloway, Town of Morrisville)

Crabtree Creek and its floodplain mark the southern edge of the Town Center area. (Photo: Town of Mor- risville)

│ Town Center Plan

January 2007