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DIVISION 7 PROJECTS IN ORANGE COUNTY <br /> WHEREAS, Orange County welcomes the opportunity to participate in <br /> development of the 2009-2015 North Carolina Transportation Improvement Program, <br /> and <br /> WHEREAS, Orange County gives priority to identified safety needs in the vicinity <br /> of schools, on existing roads and bridges, to other transportation projects that encourage <br /> alternatives to automobile travel, to projects that minimize adverse impacts on the <br /> natural environment and cultural sites, and to those projects that foster economic <br /> development in the designated Economic Development Districts; and <br /> WHEREAS, Orange County has submitted a Priority List of transportation <br /> projects for inclusion in the 2009 —2015 State Transportation Improvement Program <br /> (STIP); and <br /> WHEREAS, the North Carolina Department of Transportation has released the <br /> Draft 2009— 2015 STIP for public comment; and <br /> WHEREAS, Orange County, as a member of the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro <br /> (DCHC) Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has submitted comments to the <br /> Transportation Advisory Committee of the DCHC MPO regarding transportation projects <br /> within the Metropolitan Area Boundary, which are attached to this resolution; and <br /> WHEREAS, the North Carolina Board of Transportation is the sole approving <br /> authority for the STIP for areas of the State outside Metropolitan Area Boundaries; and <br /> WHEREAS, a large portion of Orange County lies outside the DCHC MPO MAB; <br /> NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Orange County Board of <br /> Commissioners that Orange County submits the following comments regarding <br /> transportation projects in areas of the County outside the DCHC MPO MAB, as <br /> submitted in the attached recommendation of the Orange County Unified Transportation <br /> Board, for consideration by the North Carolina Department of Transportation in <br /> development of the 2009— 2015 State Transportation Improvement Program: <br /> 1 . Orange County is concerned that cuts in appropriated federal transportation funds to <br /> North Carolina coupled with the rapid increase in construction costs have reduced <br /> funding sources for bicycle and pedestrian projects in order to prevent further delay <br /> of highway projects. Orange County supports greater funding for alternative modes <br /> for transportation, particularly for independent bicycle projects and improvements <br /> that make bicycling safer on County roads. <br />