Our mission
It’s time for the City of Durham and North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to take actions to slow traffic speeds and save lives. We’re residents and business owners organizing for changes to street designs throughout Durham, starting with Roxboro and Mangum through central Durham.
NCDOT has scheduled repaving North Roxboro Street and North Mangum Street between I-85 and Main Street. This creates an opportunity for the City to request changes that prioritize safety for all users – whether you drive, walk, bike, or take transit – over speed for drivers. We support the City’s proposal to convert these streets to two-way travel with slower speeds. We are also urging the City to fund the design and implementation of changes to street designs adopted by the City Council in Move Durham Study (2020), as well as dangerous streets throughout Durham.
Challenges
- NCDOT – Roxboro and Mangum Streets, like many of the busiest, most dangerous streets in Durham, are maintained by NCDOT. That means NCDOT engineers have authority to approve or deny the City’s proposed changes.
- City budget – Converting one-way to two-way streets will require spending on additional traffic signals and some changes to curbs (e.g., the island where Mangum and Roxboro meet). The Durham City Council will have to approve funding with the next budget.
Take action now
Make your voice heard at City community meetings
The City has created a webpage with more information about the Roxboro St. and Mangum St. Resurfacing and Study. Here are actions you can take now:
- Tell 2 friends or neighbors about this resurfacing project and how to join the Safe Streets Durham campaign.
- View our potential design concepts for Mangum Street at Old Five Points and rank and provide your feedback.
- Fill out the City’s Roxboro and Mangum St. survey and provide comments on their interactive web map.
- If you have pictures of crashes along Roxboro St. or Mangum St. between I-85 and downtown, please submit them to us.
Join our movement for better Durham streets
Join with neighbors and business owners to coordinate our advocacy efforts and raise our voices for change.
Crash map
Designs we like
Roxboro Street – Durham Library
Artist: Steven Valenziano – www.stvn.us – @senorvalenz
Roxboro Street by the Durham Library is 5 lanes wide. That is enough room for a two-way street with center turning lane, protected bike lanes on both sides of the street, and another lane for on-street parking (or as seen above, a bus boarding island). <full image>
Mangum Street – Old Five Points
Option #1: A two-way street with on-street parking and a one-way protected bike lane. <full image>
Artist: David Miller-Derstine
Option #2: A two-way street and protected bike lanes on both sides of the street, with additional curb extensions where possible. <full image>
Option #3: A two-way street and protected two-way bike lane on one side of the street, with on-street parking on the other side of the street, with additional curb extensions where possible. <full image>