Minutes 02-07-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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6. Proceed with the submittal of LRT in the Durham-Orange Corridor A-4 noted above at this time. The New Starts application process will include iterations of improving the Federal Transit Agency (FTA) Durham-Orange Corridor transit proposal. It would be prudent to analyze options if federal and state funding was not available in the short/mid-term and/or what alternative transit `safety-net' solutions could be considered to make the application or amended application more viable including ongoing implementation measures. NOTE: Over the next few months, the NC 54 Corridor Plan, the requested 15-501 Alternatives Analysis, and the development of an Orange County Transit Plan Core and Enhanced Program may support the need for BRT High in one or both corridors (NC 54 and US 15-501). This information will be critical over the next six months as the Risk Assessment Phase of the New Starts Application is prepared to include financial sustainability and environmental impact. In any event, BRT could be part of a complementary corridor development to support LRT. This may be in addition to BRT that is in the draft OCTP financial plan in the MLK Boulevard corridor of Chapel Hill. PUBLIC COMMENT Art Mines read a prepared statement. Dear Board of Orange County commissioners and Hillsborough Town Board Members; RE: Support for'/z-cent Public Transit Tax to include the Orange County Public Train Station We ask the Orange County Board of Commissioners and the Hillsborough Town Board to support using a portion of the proposed'/z-cent transportation tax to fund a rail station for Orange County in Hillsborough to access the current passenger trains that already pass through Orange County. This will have far-reaching benefits obtainable within one to three years by bringing passenger rail services as well as connecting existing and planned bus services, to serve our entire county. Because we want to help you make the tax referendum work, we ask both the County Board and Town Board to communicate their mutual approval of this to each other as soon as possible, and subsequently to the public when promoting the upcoming tax referendum. We also plan to promote this on a grassroots level. Orange County and Davidson County are the only counties along North Carolina's current passenger rail line where the train does not stop. Davidson County may soon add a train station, leaving Orange County as the only county without access to one of the fastest growing train services in the Southeast. One of our local residents was recently heard saying, "It's like having a super-highway passing through our county with no exit in our county." We trust you will unite with your colleagues to continue your support for the Orange County Train Station as a joint venture between Orange County and the Town of Hillsborough, for the reasons listed on the following page. We thank both the Orange County Commissioners and the Hillsborough Town Board Members for all their continued support towards this train station effort. Let us know how together we can help encourage the passage of this referendum. Support for Passing the '/z-cent Transportation Tax - Benefits of Orange County Train Station in Hillsborough The train station in Orange County/Hillsborough benefits the citizens across the entire county to access the existing 6 passenger trains that travel through Orange County daily. Hillsborough is in the geographic center of Orange County making the planned train station accessible to all of our seven townships. A passenger train station in Orange County/Hillsborough, as a new transportation service, supports economic development and transit-oriented development. The train station can be achieved in 1-3 years. Relatively little needs to be done to open the train station (platform, modular station).