The council voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a resolution endorsing construction of a small roundabout at Carolina Vista's intersection with N.C. 2.
The resolution also calls for the DOT to add turning lanes and new traffic signals at the often congested intersection of N.C. 2 and N.C. 5 a short distance to the west.
It asks the DOT to do the work simultaneously if possible.
The resolution supports the small roundabout at Carolina Vista to address "safety problems" at the intersection of Carolina Vista and N.C. 2. Vehicles leaving the Pinehurst Country Club and the Carolina Hotel turning left onto N.C. 2 have poor sight distances.
The intersection of N.C. 2 and N.C. 5 (Beaulah Hill Road) has been a "bit of a bottleneck" for some time, according to N.C. DOT Division Engineer Tim Johnson.
Johnson said he expects the Board of Transportation to vote on the two projects possibly at its July meeting.
The village and Pinehurst Resort have worked with the DOT division representatives to develop plans for improving both intersections, the resolution says.
The small roundabout would help traffic enter the road more safely. Traffic from N.C. 5 approaches the intersection coming up a hill, which reduces the sight distances for vehicles turning from Carolina Vista. The plan for the roundabout calls for smoothing down the area to improve sight distances.
The intersection of N.C. 5 and N.C. 2 will get new traffic signals and be widened as much as possible, starting from the railway overpass through the crossing, Johnson said.
The roundabout would keep traffic moving without stopping it as signals would do. It would also lower the speed at that intersection. The signalized intersection farther west will ease congestion and allow traffic to and from the roundabout to feed more smoothly into and out of it.
Village Manager Andy Wilkison has written to DOT board member G.R. Kindley of Rockingham, who represents this area, asking for his assistance with the projects.
Johnson said it will probably not be feasible to work on both projects simultaneously, but he would like to complete both "in tandem," or one right after the other.
Some opponents of the roundabout have surfaced, but Mayor Steve Smith said the original Long Range Comprehensive Plan for Pinehurst adopted in 2003 supports the project. Some have accused the council of kowtowing to the resort, he said, which is untrue.
DOT officials say some measures need to be undertaken to improve safety and traffic flow at those intersections.
Pinehurst Country Club Historian Paul Dunn opposes putting a roundabout at Carolina Vista and N.C. 2 because it would require removal of trees and would result in the loss of open space.
He wrote Wilkison proposing that the roundabout be at N.C. 5 and N.C. 2. He suggested to Wilkison that the village's Historic Landmark status might be endangered by altering the "historic intersection entryway."
Johnson said in an interview that the intersection of the two highways is too "tight" to install a roundabout, which requires more space than the lane-widening already planned.
Wilkison said Tuesday in an interview that the state Historic Preservation Office in Raleigh had assured the Planning Department that a Carolina Vista roundabout would not hurt the village's historic status. Pinehurst has an historic precedent with roundabouts, he said, including the Pinehurst Traffic Circle that is itself of historic value.
In other business, the council agreed to advise residents to water plants every three days, instead of every other day as its village water conservation policy has been so far.
Water usage in Pinehurst was up to 3.6 million gallons on Memorial Day, according to the county Utility Department, Wilkison reported. The county owns the water system serving the village. County Public Utilities Director Marcus Jones requested that the village water conservation policy be the same as the county's, Wilkison said.
Mayor Pro Tem George Hillier noted that since 2002, when the previous water usage record was set, the village has grown by 1,000 new residences. The county was hit with a severe drought in August 2002.
"The level of Drowning Creek was down 20 percent before the latest rain," Wilkison said. "That's a trigger that prompts the county to go to Stage No. 1 of a drought ordinance that specifies voluntary water conservation," he said.
There are five stages, eventually mandatory.
The county's policy recommending limited watering and voluntary conservation will remain in effect until Sept. 1, Wilkison said.
Sara Lindau can be reached at 693-2473 or by e-mail at slindau@thepilot.com.
