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VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />b. Resolution Regarding DCHC 2025 Long-range Transportation Plan <br />The Board considered a resolution providing comments to the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro <br />{DCHC} Transportation Advisory Committee {TAC) regarding the Draft DCHC 2025 Long-Range <br />Transportation Plan. <br />Chair Brown asked Commissioner Gordon to tell the Board about this resolution. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that she would like the Board to identify any parts from which we need <br />response from the jurisdictions or other agencies. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked if Planning Director Craig Benedict could give a brief review of <br />the alternatives. Karen Lincoln handed out information from two October 2001 meetings. <br />One of the primary issues of the package is the Elizabeth Brady Road extension. <br />Karen Lincoln said that there are three areas of concern that Orange County may want to <br />address. The first is the Northern Durham Parkway. The consensus of the group was that Orange <br />County wants some assurance from Durham City and Durham County that this roadway will not extend <br />west of Roxboro Road in Orange County. The second is Elizabeth Brady Road. Commissioners Gering <br />and Chavious of Hillsborough, Karen Lincoln, and Commissioner Gordan met to try and come up with a <br />common stance on the Elizabeth Brady Road project. Most of the group agreed that they would like to <br />include language that an alignment that has or considers the least impact on the Eno River should be <br />encouraged. Craig Benedict showed the possible alignments on a map. The third deals with the major <br />concern of non-traditional revenue sources proposed in the plan. The plan has a $947 million shortfall <br />between the proposed projects and projected revenues using traditional sources. The plan is proposing <br />a 5°~ tax on the retail price of gasoline, an increase in personal property tax and vehicles, and a $20 <br />yearly increase in vehicle registration fees. Orange County's view is that these revenue sources should <br />be further analyzed and discussed before anything is adapted. <br />Commissioner Gordon distributed the language concerning the Elizabeth Brady Road <br />extension, and noted the sections on which the group agreed and those for which they could not reach <br />consensus. There was no consensus on the lane configuration. The plan now is a four-lane divided <br />highway. Orange County prefers two lanes and Hillsborough prefers four lanes. She said that the plan <br />needs to identify a corridor, a cross section {two or four lanes}, a dollar amount, and a statement about <br />whether it is regionally significant. She asked the Board to discuss what they want for this project. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked Craig Benedict about Hillsborough's preferred route. Craig <br />Benedict said that any of those first three choices were fine with Hillsborough, but they do not want to <br />underrate the road. They did say that collector roads in and around Hillsborough should be similar to <br />Carrboro's and not be more than three lanes. He was not at the meeting last week in Hillsborough. <br />Chair Brown asked about the two alternative routes and how many houses were in the way of <br />this project. Karen Lincoln said that these were just lines at this time and they do not know how many <br />houses it would affect. She said that the estimate is that there would be 22,000 trips per day on this <br />road, so DOT decided that four lanes with bicycle and pedestrian amenities would be appropriate. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked about the modeling and Karen Lincoln said that the model map <br />indicated that the level of service would not be different on a two-lane versus a four-lane road. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that Orange County's preference has been pretty clear through <br />the statements. He said that the Board favors an alignment that has the least impact on the Eno River, <br />the natural environment, and cultural sites. This is what the EDD work group was saying. He said that <br />we could say, "has the least impact" and take out "an the river." It also indicates that the County prefers <br />having a smaller facility if possible. This is also consistent with the EDD work group's recommendation. <br />Commissioner Gordon said it would be fine to take out "on the river", but that is what the EDD <br />work group said. <br />Commissioner Carey would like to remove "an the river" because the real impact is going to <br />be in the environmentally sensitive area. He thinks that this Board needs to send a message and the <br />Hillsborough board needs to send its own message. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that a large part of the genesis of the EDD Transportation Work <br />Group in its effort to look at the Elizabeth Brady Road Extension was an attempt to bring in all of the <br />stakeholders and to try and reach some consensus statement about this facility. He said that the <br />