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18 <br /> Addressing Park-and-Ride demand in the NC 54 corridor is a key issue for both <br /> the ultimate size of any parking facility at a future Leigh Village station but more <br /> importantly, for meeting the mobility challenges in the NC 54 corridor in the next <br /> three to ten years. A committee including MPO staff and transit service planning <br /> staff is already looking how to utilize investments in the Orange and Durham <br /> county bus plans address some of these needs. <br /> 8. Right-of-Way Availability, (page 7 —September 30, 2010 TTA Report), notes that <br /> alignment right-of-way has been 'preserved' at `possibly no cost' in the C-1 <br /> alignment. That may be true for the area in Meadowmont but not along the <br /> majority of the route including the traverse of federal environmental lands. <br /> This comment contains a misunderstanding about right-of-way costs in regards <br /> to Federal lands. Assuming an alignment is chosen that crosses Federal lands, <br /> the Federal Transit Administration, assumed to provide 50% of the funding for the <br /> line, will not pay another Federal department for right of way. The most likely <br /> outcome is an easement of some type provided at zero cost for access, but with <br /> costs to the transit agency for maintenance of any environmental mitigation <br /> actions that may or may not be required to build the line. <br /> Town of Chapel Hill staff have documented that virtually the entire alignment from <br /> UNC Hospital to the Friday Center is on UNC property, and has been assumed to <br /> be provided at no cost. <br /> These assumptions have been included in the AA documents from July 2011, <br /> which supersede any assumptions from the September 2010 white paper <br /> regarding Fordham Blvd. <br /> 9. Since the New Starts application is a six-month process for its first submittal and <br /> decisions about 'final' alignment may still be 3 to 4 years out, could 15-501 be <br /> offered as a preferred alignment since it is within the study area of the AA? <br /> It is impossible to submit the 15-501 corridor as part of the AA without redoing <br /> the last 18 months of work with local governments and the public, since the 15- <br /> 501 corridor was screened out early on in the process and all of the costs, <br /> benefits, impacts, and ridership analyses would need to be redone. <br /> BRT/LRT DECISIONS <br /> 1. If it is decided that fixed route (LRT or BRT) would better serve Orange County <br /> and its connection to Durham County via the 15-501 corridor as a complement <br /> and/or a supplement to the NC 54 corridor, what process is suggested? <br /> Page 10 of 13 <br />