Agenda - 11-17-2009 - 6b - Laserfiche WebLink

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23 ~.:Attaclmerit:5:: 2006 Review of MPO Membership and Metropolitan Area Boundary September 11, 2006 The Federal Highway Act of 19b2 initiated a requirement that a continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive (" 3-C") transportation planning process be established for all urban areas over 50,000 in population in order to qualify for federal transportation funds. These urban transportation planning requirements have been administered by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) with the approval of Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration {FTA) of the U. S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). There are now 17 urban areas in North Carolina which participate in the " 3-C" transportation planning process, including; Asheville, Burlington, Charlotte-Union, Durham, Fayetteville, Gastonia, Goldsboro, Greensboro, Greenville, Hickory, High Point, Jacksonville, Kannapolis, Raleigh, Rocky Mount, Wilmington, and Winston- Sa(em. Nearly all of these urban areas also include one or more neighboring smaller municipalities. When the Durham Urbanized Area was first designated by the Census in 1970, it consisted of only the City of Durham and a portion of Durham County. The first Transportation Advisory Committee was created for the Durham Urbanized Area in the 1970s. The 1980 Census expanded the Durham Urbanized Area to include the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro and portions of Orange County. Consequently, those governments were added and the name changed to the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Urban Area MPO. The Town of Hillsborough and northeastern Chatham County were added in 1994 in response to the need for coordinated planning in the area and the requirements ofthe federal transportation bill 1STEA. 1n 1993, the US EPA requested that Butner join the DCHC MPO because of the common air quality issues in Dutchville Township in southwestern Granville County. At the time, the DCHC MPO declined extending MPO membership to Butner. 1n 2004, the DCHC MPO approached Orange County, Roxboro, Person County, Butner, Granville County, Pittsboro, and Chatharri County in regard to MPO expansion. At the time, the DCHC MPO decided not to expand because the 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) for the MPO was well under way and expansion would delay the plan. The TAC directed the MPO staff to reexamine MPO expansion at the beginning of the 2035 LRTP update. Over time, the role of MPOs has shifted. Historically, Lang-range transportation plans (sometimes called Thoroughfare Plans) for this area, and indeed for most urban areas in .. the State, have traditionally focused on highways. Automobile travel is the dominant form of transportation, with transit accounting for less than ten percent of all trips. 1n the past, land use development has encouraged campus-like employment centers away from