Agenda - 04-06-1999 - 8j - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Gordon requested that the Commission for the Environment undertake items 1 and 2. Commissioner Jacobs requested that verbal descriptions of the bike routes in the plan be included in the tent. He also requested that the secondary priority routes be labeled with letters instead of numbers. Commissioner Halkiotis was opposed to Commissioner Gordon's request that items 1 and 2 be undertaken by the Commission for the Environment. He feels that the current Bicycle Plan Component Task Force should be allowed to continue their work. Orange County Bicycle Plan Component Task Force Members Mark Schultz and Chris van Hasselt both requested that the Bike Plan be acted upon with expediency. The Draft Bike Plan was referred to the Planning Board for a recommendation to the Commissioners no later than May 4, 1999. McCalip noted that he would be presenting the plan to the Commission for the Environment at their next meeting on Monday, March 8. The Planning Staff recommends approval of the proposed Bicycle Plan Component to the Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan. Barrows asked what McCalip felt was the best way to give this item legitimacy and keep it moving forward in the way it needs to go; as Commissioner Gordon suggested, or, maintaining the Task Force. McCalip responded that David Stancil had an informal conversation with Commissioner Gordon and she indicated that she was not sure the Commission for the Environment is the best place for the Bicycle Plan Task Force. McCalip continued, that to legitimize this and move forward with it will take some staff support. State laws must be updated, design standards enforced, and lobbying the State for more maintenance money to get the roads widened and paved shoulders. Barrows asked about the best way to move ahead with the plan. McCalip responded that the best thing to do is to adopt the Plan and then have the Regional Transportation Planning Agency incorporate it into their Plan. Selkirk asked about the next series of events if the plan is adopted. McCalip responded that the next step would be to take the adopted plan to the Durham WO. McCalip noted that he had distributed to the Board an announcement of 4 Public Outreach Meetings on the 2025 Transportation Plan and encouraged Planning Board members to attend and provide input. Selkirk asked how many organizations must the plan go through before it becomes regional. McCalip responded that the request has already been made to NCDOT. The need for full or part-time staff support is due to the amount of research that must be done. The amount of available right - of -way must be determined and then a TIP request must be made. These are made in a two year cycle. Selkirk felt there should be some kind of timeline so the request doesn't get lost.