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18 <br /> FUNCTIONAL ROAD CLASSIFICATIONS <br /> Summary of Amendments Proposed for Public Hearing on <br /> November 24, 1997 <br /> Functional classification is the process by which streets and highways are grouped into <br /> classes, or systems, according to the type of service that the roads are intended to provide. <br /> Basic to this process is the recognition that individual roads do not serve travel <br /> independently of each other. Rather, most travel involves movement through a network <br /> of roads. Functional classification defines the role that any particular road should play in <br /> serving the flow of trips over a road network. In addition, a road's design is developed <br /> based upon a road's functional classification and the traffic that the road is projected to <br /> serve. <br /> The proposed amendment is an update of Orange County functional road classifications. <br /> The amendments are needed for the following reasons: <br /> • The maps in the Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Pan depict planned <br /> roads that are not planned anymore; <br /> • Some of the current functional classifications are not referenced by other adopted plans <br /> and ordinances; <br /> • The existing classifications have been applied to every road in the County, making it <br /> difficult to identify the most important roads;and <br /> • The Board of Commissioners has directed that all references to the planned NC 751 <br /> Connector Road be deleted from all adopted plans in Orange County. <br /> The proposed amendment includes changes to text and maps of the Comprehensive Plan, as <br /> well as to the text of the Subdivision Regulations and Zoning Ordinance. The proposed <br /> changes are summarized below. <br /> COMPREHENSIVE PLAN <br /> Revisions to Section 2.6 (County.-Specific Road Classification System) eliminate text and <br /> map references to previously-planned roads which are no longer planned (including but not <br /> limited to the NC 751 Connector Road); and provide consistency with respect to the <br /> terminology and definitions used to classify roads according to their function. Section 2.6 <br /> of the Comprehensive Plan defines how a road's function is determined and also lists each <br /> road's individual functional classification. <br />