PH ORD-1997-043 Orange County Functional Road Classification Comprehensive Plan and Ordinance Amendment

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PAGE TO BE REMOVED FROM SECTION 2.6 OF COMP PLAN COLLECTOR/SUBCOLLECTOR ROAD SYSTEM Policy Issues The functional classification of Orange County's road system identifies the major and minor arterials as well as the collector roads. These form the basic roadway infrastructure or skeleton for the movement of people and goods. In addition, there are classifications below the collector which comprise the majority of the system mileage and where the greatest degree of interface occurs between roadway and land use. A properly designed road system should have a sufficient number of evenly spaced roads of each classification in order to adequately serve the desired land uses and intensity of development. Due to consumption of land and resources required by roads as well as *. capital and maintenance cost, it is not desirable to provide more roads than necessary to service such demand. A proper balance in the roadway system should be sought in order to serve: the existing and planned land use as well as through or out-of-county travel. Road System Assessment In applying this philosophy to Orange County, a qualitative assessment of system balance in the non-urban areas was made. Since the arterial system is fairly well defined, it will be briefly discussed. However, the primary focus was on the collector roads and on major local roads which are served by the collectors. The arterial system provides good north south and east-west movement, with the primary demand being east and west. Based on the future land use plan, there is adequate potential capacity to serve existing and future traffic volumes. The east-west facilities are fairly well spaced, with NC 54 and Old Greensboro Road located in southern Orange County and the I-85/US 70 corridor located slightly north of the middle of the County. The north-south arterial demand is served by NC 49, NC 87, NC 57 and Dodsons Crossroads. In addition, there are other north-south arterials located within the urban study areas --NC 86 and Old NC 86. To adequately assess the balance of collectors and major local roads, the desired or expected future land use must be understood. For the purposes of this study, the rural portion of the county consists primarily of Little River, Cedar Grove, Cheeks and Bingham Townships. The adopted land use plan, and the land use goals and organizing concepts contained in the plan clearly indicate that the rural character and low-density development of the non-urban areas is intended to continue. With the exception of some continued urban transition along the US 70 corridor between Hillsborough and Mebane, 2.6-15