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CLEMMONS — Heading into Thanksgiving, Manager Mike Gunnell thought it might be an opportune time to provide an update on local transportation projects in last Monday night’s Clemmons Village Council meeting.

Gunnell led off with the Harper Road Sidewalks (EB-5960 and EB-6040) from Fair Oaks Drive to Peace Haven Road and the Jerry Long Family YMCA, stating that the construction plans are complete and that the village is waiting on the approval for the right-of-way and utility funding.

“We have money for it,” Gunnell said. “We’re just reallocating some for that portion. It’s on the Transportation Board agenda for the December meeting.” 

Right-of-way and easement acquisition follows on the timeline for the spring of 2025, Gunnell said, with construction scheduled to start in the summer of 2025.

Next up on the agenda was the Lewisville-Clemmons Road Improvements (U-6004), which has been in the works for years. Gunnell said that construction plans are almost complete.

“I think they have already started to talk with some current owners about right-of-way and easement acquisition, which is probably going to take awhile, probably most of 2025,” he said. “The next step will be utility relocation in 2026 and the main construction will start in 2027. That’s a tentative schedule. We’re supposed to meet with DOT this week to discuss the whole project.”

The Idols Road Sidewalk (EB-5959) from Middlebrook Drive to Tanglewood “has been on the books for a while,” Gunnell said. “It got delayed because of a forced main relocation that Winston-Salem was doing. The amount of funding we had was not enough, so we’ve gone back to the MPO and asked for additional funding. It will be some time out before we can start that one.” 

On the north side of town, Gunnell said that the Holder Road/Lewisville-Clemmons Road Signal Light (HL-0125) is currently in design and on schedule, and the Marty Lane Sidewalk (BL-0145) is awaiting on the agreement to be signed before moving forward.

Gunnell then provided an update on a project that was first brought up in the previous council meeting in November — the West Forsyth Sidewalk and Pedestrian Crossing (BL-0142). He said that construction plans are done and that right-of-way and utility funding is on the Transportation Board’s December meeting agenda. Pending approval, that will be followed by right-of-way and easement acquisition.

“As soon as that gets done, we can start putting the project out for bid,” Gunnell said. “We’ve already gotten funding for construction. We hope to start that in the spring or summer of 2025.”

The West Forsyth Student Drop-off is still waiting for a construction cost estimate from NCDOT with the hope that the project will make the March NCDOT Board of Transportation meeting agenda for approval.

In one of the business items on last Monday night’s agenda, the council approved an ordinance amendment to the village’s parking regulations, and more specifically, on-street parking.

Amy Flyte, assistant manager, presented the amendment ordinance to the board, saying following discussions this spring that changes have been made to the requirements for on-street parking,

“This is to address the concern of having people parked on the street and not leaving enough room for emergency or the trash trucks to get down residential streets,” she said. “Most of the content remained the same, but we used simpler language, deleted confusing language and added graphics to demonstrate safe on-street parking in our neighborhoods.”

Flyte added that the village has increased the fine from $25 to $100 and removed the section on vehicles for hire since this is now outdated with the existence of Lyft and Uber.

In another item, the council approved the Safe Street for America Transition Agreement with Kimley Horn after a presentation from Doug Moore, the village’s planning director.

He explained grant funding has been received and that the sidewalks, intersections, curb cuts and facilities will be surveyed for accessibility. This information will be entered into a database so that the village can prioritize and determine what direction we need to go. 

Moore said that the plan will take approximately eight months and added that the village received five responses for proposals.

The meeting concluded with a look ahead to the annual retreat in January with Gunnell asking council members to begin thinking about any specific topics that need to be addressed.

Mary Cameron suggested in council comments that she would like for the board members to  start thinking about “what do we want to be when we grow up” for the upcoming retreat discussions.

“We’re not built out, we’re not finished, so I think that ought to be the guiding force in whatever plans we make,” Cameron said. “What is our goal, and keep that in mind as we talk about all of these various projects whether it’s transportation or land use or whatever it is.”