Some Chapel Hill residents are asking why the east-west connector in northern Chapel Hill is getting narrower.

Short answer: For most of the project's 2.74 miles, it's not.

"It's not really getting narrower," says Kumar Neppalli, the town's engineering services manager.

For the most part, what appears to be narrowing is the beginning of bike lanes, sidewalks and more being added to both sides of the road between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Erwin Road. The project also includes the extension to Sage Road.

The $10 million project, funded by federal stimulus dollars administered by the state, will take another two years to complete (July 2013).

Here is a brief primer:

Why is the project happening? Weaver Dairy Road is a major artery to Carolina North, UNC's future satellite campus.

The road's changing traffic lanes are confusing, and the parts closest to MLK Boulevard operate at an unacceptable level at rush hour.

Plus, the Town Council really wanted those bike lanes and sidewalks.

How bad is traffic now? The intersection of Weaver Dairy and MLK has a D level of service at rush hour. (The state likes a C, characterized by stable traffic flow at the posted speed limit and signal delays of no more than 20 to 35 seconds.). Traffic will only increase as Weaver Dairy grows from 14,900 cars in 2010 to a projected 20,300 cars by 2030. That's a 36 percent traffic increase.

How long has this been in the works? The town and state held a citizens workshop April 18, 1999, so about 12 years to get to what you see now.

Why so long? The town and state Department of Transportation did not see eye to eye.

The state wanted a four lane median-divided road. Opponents said a parkway-type road would encourage speeding and endanger pedestrians.

The town, backed by some citizens groups, the Carol Woods retirement community and eventually the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce (which initially wanted four lanes), fought for a three-lane compromise: one lane in each direction with a continuous center turning lane. The plan was brokered by then Mayor Kevin Foy, who had made it a plank of his campaign platform, and then council members Flicka Bateman, Bill Strom and Dorothy Verkerk.

Don't you need more traffic lanes to carry more traffic? Not if the traffic moves more smoothly. New turning lanes and 14 bus pullouts should keep things humming.

"It appears three lanes will accommodate what is projected there at this time," DOT engineer Patty Eason said Monday. "We feel good about what we're getting."

So what are we getting? Pretty much what the council wanted.

The project adds three designated right turn lanes at Weaver Dairy and MLK that will improve the intersection's rush-hour service from D to C. The section along Timberlyne will be four lanes with a median, and the rest of road will be three lanes (including a continuous center turn lane), except for a short divided two-lane stretch with turn lanes at Sunrise Road. (See map.)

And, of course, 5 feet each of bike lanes and sidewalks on both north and south sides - the main reason, Neppalli says, that in a few places the road is getting narrower.