Agenda - 04-01-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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14 1 been pledged out of Orange County money. He said a capacity study must be completed in 2 order to get started, and this began about a month ago. He said once this is done later this 3 year there will be a clear picture of how many tracks will go past that point and where they will 4 go. He said this will then define where to put the platform and the station. He said the 5 competitor for federal and state money for this project is Lexington. He said $8 million has 6 been budgeted for the Hillsborough project, and 10 percent or $800,000 of that is from Orange 7 County's funding. He said Lexington's project is much higher, which provides an advantage to 8 Hillsborough. He said it will be possible to have a functional train station at half that cost, with a 9 modular unit and less landscaping. He said there are ways to get this project done, and TT will 10 keep the Board posted. He said the MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) has this as part 11 of their ranking at the state level and that comes out in early summer. 12 David King said there is a new program called Tiger that contains over $600 million in 13 funds. He said funding could be requested from this program for the Hillsborough station if 14 preparation and planning can be completed. 15 David King said work is also being done on the Durham Light Rail project. He said a 16 request to enter project development was submitted in December. He said once a submission 17 is allowed in the Start process, the environmental process must be completed within a 24 18 month window. He said TT hopes to hear about this within the next 10 days. 19 Commissioner Gordon asked if the application and letter could be made available to 20 Orange County. 21 David King said yes, this is public information. 22 Commissioner Gordon asked if there could be an emphasis on bus hours for the transit 23 dependent population as the plan is modified. She thanked Triangle Transit for presenting 24 tonight and for bringing staff that have worked on this project. 25 David King said the staff working group is functioning smoothly. 26 He said one of the issues that needed fixing was the $3.00 vehicle registration fee. He 27 said Commissioner Gordon and Commissioner Pelissier joined with others on the Special Tax 28 Board last week to work on this. He said the intent is that their board will be able to levy this tax 29 in both Durham and Orange County starting in March. He said there will be a public hearing in 30 February. He said Wake County has not moved forward, so authority was requested and 31 gained from the legislature to levy the tax in the other two counties. 32 Commissioner Pelissier said in the future it would be good to hear about the 33 implementation of some of the other bus services from Chapel Hill Transit. 34 Commissioner Pelissier said she would also like a report on what is happening on MLK. 35 Patrick McDonough said he participates on the steering committee for the MLK 36 alternatives analysis. He said a consulting firm was selected in the summer. He said Chapel 37 Hill was also looking at an ongoing fiscal capacity exercise for Chapel Hill Transit, due to the 38 age of their fleet. He said the goal was to start the MLK work in November, but this has been 39 postponed into 2014, and the exact date is not known. He said work will begin as soon as 40 Chapel Hill Transit is ready to move. 41 Commissioner McKee expressed thanks for the updated plan and the prioritization of 42 providing geographical equity. He said this is important to him, as someone who lives in the 43 northern rural part of the County. He said there was an announcement yesterday about a major 44 redevelopment project in Research Triangle Park. He read a statement regarding this and said 45 this may be a factor moving forward. 46 David King said the Research Triangle Foundation is creating a master plan for the next 47 50 years. He said this includes 3 mixed use development zones, and 2 of these are at 48 commuter rail stations. He said the Durham/Raleigh/Garner commuter rail system is part of the 49 regional plan, but it is not part of the Orange County plan. He said the point that was made in