A “Complete Street” feasibility study undertaken by Sanford city government calls for a comprehensive overhaul of the Carthage Street and Charlotte Avenue corridor over the next several years, including roundabouts, bricked and planted medians, enhanced crosswalks, bike lanes, and more.
The proposed changes are designed to make the areas more bike and pedestrian friendly and encourage redevelopment. The study was undertaken over a 10 month period by a group consisting of downtown business and property owners, city and N.C. Department of Transportation staff, and more. It relied on citizen input and included multiple meetings of stakeholders over the 10 month period.
Interestingly, the project identifies the Prince Downtown Motel – the subject of a cover story by The Rant Monthly back in April – as a potential location for redevelopment.
“Many of the survey respondents emphasized the need to re-purpose the hotel site and create a more pleasant and safe environment,” the study reads. “The design team accepted this challenge and proposed a new site design of mixed-use retail and residential sites.”
Read the entire 99 page study here. Below are some renderings of the various proposed changes to the area.
What an exciting vision, and I hope that it can come to fruition!