Minutes 11-14-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner McKee noted that there has been some discussion by Triangle Transit of running this express route down 1-85 rather than Highway 70. He said this would have an impact on the park and ride located in or near Mebane. He said he would like to keep the route on Highway 70 in order to facilitate the needs of those citizens. Craig Benedict said it was the intention of the Board of County Commissioners, by keeping it on Hwy 70, to capture residents in Efland and Cornelius Road. He said at some point, the bus could get on 1-85 as the last leg of the route. He said outreach has shown that it is something new for rural populations to have a bus service they can use for work or medical service. Commissioner Pelissier said Triangle Transit staff has been looking at this and they have found that over half of the riders come from Hillsborough; 1/3 of them come from Mebane; and only about 7 percent come from Efland. She said there are two routes that might have to be planned for. She said one of these would be regional routes planned in collaboration with the counties and Triangle Transit. She said the other option would be to have local routes within the county that run all day long and provide more stops than an express route. Chair Jacobs said the County has been meeting with Hillsborough for a long time, and the town is insistent on not creating more traffic through their downtown area from north to south. He said there would need to be a local route in addition to an express; otherwise people will funnel through Churton Street. He said this will have to be part of the balancing act; and it may require more participation by Orange Public Transit to make sure the local route happens in conjunction with the express. Chris Rollins said there is currently no public transit in Alamance County. He said there has been talk about getting this going. Commissioner Rich asked if there is any bus service available to the students at Elon. Chris Rollins said Elon has its own bus service that goes around the campus and to local shopping and the downtown area. He said this is funded by Elon. Jill Auditori noted that anyone can ride the Elon bus for free. Jill Auditori asked about the timeframe for this transportation plan. Craig Benedict said money is received each year from the half cent sales tax and vehicle registration fees. He said, based on this, Triangle Transit will tell them what funding is available for use in the upcoming fiscal year. He said some of the funding has already been used to expand existing routes in the Chapel Hill area. He said the County will be making proposals in January or February of next year, and implementation will probably be near June or July of 2014. Commissioner McKee asked where Piedmont Authority Rural Transportation (PART) terminates. Chris Rollins said PART does not have anything in Mebane. He said there is a park and ride in Graham that has the service down 54 to Chapel Hill. Commissioner McKee asked if there are any future plans to bring this to Mebane. Ed Hooks answered yes. Craig Benedict said there is a lot of infrastructure work that will take some time to complete. He said the County is being cautious not to roll something out before it is ready. c) Mebane Bike and Pedestrian Plan Chris Rollins said Mebane is working with the Burlington Graham MPO, and a consultant has been chosen to start this project moving forward. He said Mebane has done a good job of building sidewalks, but they have never had a comprehensive pedestrian plan. He said the goal is to start looking at greenways and pedestrian projects.