Minutes 11-14-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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even discussion that the Buckhorn Road interchange could be over capacity by 2016 or 2017.He said Orange County can now participate in these discussions. He said the state is looking for more highway projects. He said the game plan, given the new scoring system, is to go with the traffic flow, and put these projects where the County might get some impact. He said DOT will be extending a frontage road, and this type of master planning frontage road system will improve the criteria to move it up the DOT rating chart for an interchange in the future. He said the County should start thinking about planning around that interchange now to insure that a building doesn't get in the way of a future frontage road. Craig Benedict said larger development projects like Morinaga can cause these types of interchange improvements to accelerate. Ed Hooks said there is already a huge industrial presence off of Mattress Factory Road. He said future growth will generate pressure on the state. Chris Rollins said local funding will also help to move these projects up the chart. Patty Philipps asked if there were going to be improvements to Buckhorn Road. Craig Benedict said this has been added to the list of priority projects. He said it is more powerful for cities and Counties to compare lists and work together. Chair Jacobs said the County recently met with division DOT staff and lobbied for points. Craig Benedict said big employment, industrial zones, and interchanges are going to be focus areas under the new formula. Chair Jacobs said Buckhorn Road is also a priority under the Triangle Rural Planning Organization. b) Transit Plans - Fixed Route Bus Service Craig Benedict provided an overview of public transit. He said this is being funded by a half cent sales tax for public transit between Orange County and Durham. He said the modes will include a light rail system; a bus rapid transit system; an Amtrak system in Hillsborough that would use the heavy commuter rail; and a local bus service, which is the topic tonight. He said the monies are in the tax for an additional bus service in Chapel Hill to connect to the rail, Durham, and the Triangle, as well as bus service by Triangle Transit to connect Mebane, Efland, Hillsborough and Durham. Craig Benedict said there will be potential future stops in the economic development zones, such as the Buckhorn area. He said an east-west route from Mebane to Hillsborough to Chapel Hill and/or Durham is being developed. He noted that there is currently a Triangle Transit circulator bus in Hillsborough, and the plan is to tie into this. He said this is one aspect of cross County transportation. He said recent research has provided information on how many people work at Duke and UNC. He said there are over 750 residents in the Mebane zip code and almost 750 that work at UNC or the University. He said there are another 300 in the Efland zip code. He said if even 2 percent of these people used the transit system, it would fill up a good size bus. Craig Benedict said this is still in the planning stages, and this is new to the Mebane/ Efland area, so it is an educational process. He said a transit system could also attract businesses to this area. He said Mebane will be kept informed of the monies that are available. He said all money from the half cent sales tax that is allocated to the transportation system will be ratcheted up over the next 4 to 5 years. He said it is difficult to phase in bus systems, so the money may be held for a year until a robust system can be put in place.