An ordinance prohibiting turning right on red at several intersections in Chapel Hill will go into effect on October 31. The Chapel Hill Town Council passed the ordinance during its meeting on October 2, two years after a similar ordinance had previously discussed and pulled from the council’s agenda.

The town’s Transportation and Connectivity Advisory Board recommended the ordinance at 16 intersections in Chapel Hill after studying accident data. Of the 191 accidents involving cars and pedestrians or bicyclists over the last 10 years, 12 occurred when a driver turned right on red. The council approved all 16 intersections and requested permission from North Carolina Department of Transportation to seek enacting it at an additional intersection.

At the council meeting prior to the vote, Chapel Hill mayor Pam Hemminger said North Carolina representatives are focused on improving pedestrian safety, making it important the town does so too.

“We are the ninth most populous state in the nation, but we’re number one for pedestrian vehicle deaths in the nation,” said Hemminger. “Most of that majority and traffic fatalities are not in our community, but there’s been this huge drive of making interactions with pedestrians and bicyclists safer.”

Council member Karen Stegman, who said she is avid bicyclist, shared her own negative experiences with drivers turning right on red as she walks or bikes.

“Just this morning,” she said, “I was biking to Ephesus Road and went through one of the intersections we’re talking about with Eastgate and Franklin Street. [My family] and I walk our bikes across the street and whenever we do, I use my body and bike to shield my kids because people fly out of Eastgate whether that light is red or green. It’s frightening and it’s a safety issue and we all know it.”

In addition to safety, Stegman also said enacting the ordinance against right on red would also promote the town’s goal of combating climate change. She said by protecting foot and bicycle traffic, residents will feel safer about traveling outside of cars.

“We have set a goal as a council and as a community to reduce the amount of driving people have to do to get around town,” Stegman said. “We can have our greenways and sidewalks, but if people don’t feel safe using them, they’re not going to use them. This [ordinance] is not going to magically change all that, but it’s a step and an important one.”

Council member Nancy Oates, who was the lone vote against the ordinance, had a different view of how stopping right turns on red would affect climate change. She said longer waits for drivers at stoplights means more idling cars, which creates more carbon greenhouse gas emissions over time.

“I think given that it is going to affect climate change,” Oates said, “there is going to be more greenhouse gas emissions, it’s going to make traffic jams worse, and it’s not as safe for bikes and pedestrians…I can’t get behind this.”

In the town staff presentation to the council, it says the expected traffic impact will be a 15-20 second increase in delay for drivers at intersections where the ordinance is enacted. The town staff also wrote they will revise traffic signal timing plans at the intersections, which should reduce the impact of drivers waiting longer at the traffic light.

A spokesman for Chapel Hill Police said they will be focusing on education about the right on red ordinance before enforcement to ensure motorists are aware of the change. A list of the intersections can be found here.