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as follows: 1) impacts of noise; 2) traffic signals are needed at the 1-40/Old NC 86 interchange; 3) <br />consideration of impacts from additional exhaust emissions; 4) construction impacts; 5) HOV lanes are <br />needed. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis requested that the Orange County School Superintendent be contacted to <br />apprise him of this situation since the school system has purchased land to build a new high school which <br />comes right up on 1-40. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked about the width of the project in Durham County. <br />Gene Bell said that there would be six lanes in Durham County, which would result in an <br />additional lane for each direction constructed on the inside to reduce the size of the median. <br />Chair Gordon explained that the 1-40 widening was suggested by NCDOT, and when the TAC <br />reacted to that, the TAC felt that the portion in Durham County was much more necessary than the portion in <br />Orange County. The request by Orange County was to break it up into two projects, but NCDOT broke it up <br />into phases. She said that this has impacts because the NCDOT is doing the Environmental Impact <br />Statement for Durham County and Orange County at the same time, but the Orange County section is going <br />to be done a long time from now. For example, noise walls would not be built for some of the schools that <br />are going up next to the interstate. <br />The Board said that they want to be notified when the design public hearing is held. The Board <br />requests assurance that the information workshop is not the design public hearing and the Board would like <br />to address issues at this public hearing. The Board would also like to notify NCDOT that a high school is <br />going to be built next to 1-40 and noise walls should be constructed. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that he is not a big advocate for widening roads. He said that this <br />proposal is really stupid. He said that there are eight lanes coming out of RTP and eight lanes to the west, <br />and a bottleneck will be built because there is going to be a huge mall in Durham County right on the <br />interstate. This is going to cause people to reconsider whether six lanes are going to be adequate. He said <br />that if eight lanes are considered, there may be greater impacts, especially if lights are added. He asked that <br />NCDOT take into consideration the Orange County Land Use Plan when planning the barriers. Also, even <br />though the widening is just taking place in the median, he would like to encourage NCDOT not to do any <br />burning if any clearing is done, because he is convinced that eight lanes will be needed. He would like to at <br />least go on record as questioning if this is a very forward looking plan or if this is a plan that is already <br />overtaken by reality. <br />Chair Gordon said that most of the money for transportation is going to interstates. The Triangle <br />Transit Authority (TTA) is not getting sufficient funding. She said that this project is going to cost $70 million <br />and adding another two lanes would probably cost another $70 million. <br />Commissioner Jacobs trusts that if NCDOT recommends a potentially obsolescent six-lane <br />interstate, that it would not automatically preclude the inclusion of HOV lanes. <br />Chair Gordon suggested informing NCDOT that if the project changes that the Board of County <br />Commissioners would like to be informed and included in the process. <br />The following points will be mentioned to NCDOT: <br />1) Orange County continues to request that this project be split into two separate projects. <br />2) The Board wants assurance that the information workshop is not the design public hearing, <br />and the Board wants to be included in the design public hearing. <br />3) There is a high school that is going to be built next to 1-40. <br />4) Noise walls should be constructed for the 1-40/Old NC Highway 86 Economic Development <br />District. <br />5) The Orange County Land Use Plan should be taken into account. <br />6) There is concern about light pollution. <br />Chair Gordon suggested putting the HOV lanes recommendation high on the list. <br />Gene Bell said that he would write up these recommendations and present them at the meeting <br />scheduled for tomorrow. <br />Commissioner Jacobs suggested asking NCDOT if six lanes would be sufficient long-term and if <br />six lanes would tend to predispose them against using HOV lanes. <br />Chair Gordon suggested that the Board not ask NCDOT to construct additional lanes. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that he would specifically like to say that the Board wants to ask <br />questions about the efficacy of having a six-lane section between two eight-lane sections. He said that he <br />7