Youngsville Invests in Safety, Walkability as Town Continues to Grow STEPHANIE HUGHES Communications & Multimedia Strategist (ARP) ARP CORNER oungsville has seen tremendous growth in recent years. The town sits in Franklin County, about 25 miles northeast of Raleigh. Today the town boasts about 2,500 residents, more than doubling its population in just over a decade. The town is excited to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its incorporation in 2025. Town Clerk Emily Hurd has been with the town for over 20 years and has seen many changes during her time there. She recognizes the challenge of holding onto Youngsville’s roots as a small North Carolina town while also opening up to the opportunities of growth. “We are trying to keep that small town feel as we grow, but it is a little hard,” Hurd shared. “We want to be a community—not just a city—but a community with all of our residents involved. We are trying to make sure that the area grows in a way that is consistent with that.” As the town has grown and changed, one thing that has remained unchanged is the busy street that runs through the center of town. Youngsville’s Main Street is also Hwy 96, meaning each day there can be up to 7,000 vehicles that make their way through town, providing challenges for residents who want to park along Main Street and pedestrians who felt unsafe crossing the street, which, in turn, was having a negative impact on local businesses. “No one wanted to park downtown to go to the businesses because it was so hard to get back into traffic. We had a huge turnover of businesses at that point,” Hurd said. Improvements for Main Street have been a topic of discussion with town officials for decades and the town was working towards securing funding for a number of major upgrades when they received the unprecedented funds distributed as a part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP). The town received just over $438,000, which they in turn put directly towards police salaries and other set expenses. In doing so, they opened up space in their budget for a larger capital project such as the Main Street Improvements Project. To make an even bigger impact, the town combined their ARP funds together with state and federal government grants, and both Franklin County Public Utilities and CSX Railroad also contributed to the project, which included a number of large initiatives totaling around $4 million. The project officially got underway in mid-2022 with pedestrian walking areas as a top priority. The project included the creation and updating of three crosswalks where there had previously only been one, along with the repairing and pouring of new sidewalks along much of Main Street and creating curb extensions at the intersections and major driveways. These curb extensions help by narrowing the roadway, which slows traffic, allows pedestrians to be more visible at the crosswalks, and provides a shorter distance for foot traffic to cross the street. In a preemptive move, the town partnered with Franklin County Public Utilities to upgrade all water and sewer lines prior to the repaving of Main Street to avoid having to tear up the road in the future. CSX Railroad joined the project by repairing the three railroad crossings in town and making a smoother transition across the tracks. The result has been a safer and more usable Main Street area for Youngsville residents and visitors. It has already made a difference for town events such as the annual Trick-or-Treat of Main Street that invites families to visit the businesses along Main Street after school on Halloween. In the past, there have been safety concerns with families crossing the busy street and only having one crosswalk to do so properly. “Previously with the traffic it was a huge nightmare. This project increased some turn lanes, it increased the safety and our ability to cross [pedestrians] over and made them more visible to traffic Y We are trying to keep that small town feel as we grow, but it is a little hard. We want to be a community—not just a city—but a community with all of our residents involved. We are trying to make sure that the area grows in a way that is consistent with that. » Emily Hurd, Youngsville, Town Clerk SOUTHERN CITY Quarter 1 2024 32
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