Orange County NC Website
I to, let's say, downtown Cary, it would take 36 minutes and 21 miles, a very attractive <br />2 transportation options. In contrast, the current rail plan would add almost 13 miles and 25 <br />3 minutes more to this trip, which means that most people would choose instead to drive or take a <br />4 bus from Chapel Hill to RTP and Cary. Would anyone here be willing to travel 13 miles out of <br />5 the way, everyday, on your commute to work? <br />6 <br />7 The current rail plan could be considered a 2 -D system. It goes from Chapel Hill to Durham. <br />8 The Alternative rail plan is 3 -D, just like the Triangle region. IT goes to Chapel Hill, to Durham, <br />9 and to the west side of RTP. <br />10 <br />11 Imagine future Chatham Park transit riders making a bus to rail transfer in Chapel Hill and <br />12 heading towards Raleigh, a good direct transfer corridor. These riders may decide to do <br />13 business while in Chapel Hill. Without this direct Alternative rail route, Chatham Park <br />14 commuters may decide to drive instead on Hwy. 64 towards Raleigh. Chapel Hill may lose out <br />15 on potential tax revenue. <br />16 <br />17 Please comment to Triangle Transit that this Alternative plan needs to be included during the <br />18 NEPA process. <br />19 <br />20 The Federal Transit Administration says" "If during the NEPA process, new reasonable <br />21 alternatives not considered during the planning Alternatives Analysis are identified or new <br />22 information about eliminated alternatives comes to light, those alternatives must be evaluated <br />23 during the NEPA process. " <br />24 <br />25 Scott Washington said he is a Hillsborough historian who is enthusiastic about all of the <br />26 history in Orange County. He said the epicenter of this seems to be in Hillsborough, including a <br />27 constitutional convention held there in 1788. He reviewed some of the history surrounding the <br />28 significance of this as it related to the passage of the Bill of Rights. He reviewed the following <br />29 email comments and information: <br />30 <br />31 On the Bill of Rights Day and for the last two years in Hillsborough, we've held a special <br />32 simultaneous Community Bell Ringing event to mark that date in 1791 when the Bill of Rights <br />33 went into force (the first ten amendments to the U. S. Constitution) protecting the essential <br />34 liberties and legal fairness of all Americans. <br />35 <br />36 Last year we rang bells across the Historic Hillsborough district for 222 seconds, one second in <br />37 honor of each year the Bill of Rights has been in force since December 15, 1791 when it went <br />38 into effect. This year, 2014, we plan on ringing bells simultaneously for 223 seconds starting at <br />39 1:OOPM. <br />40 <br />41 This year will mark our third year with annual tradition and like other years, we expect five of the <br />42 area's historic churches of different denominations (St. Matthews Episcopal, Hillsborough <br />43 United Methodist, Hillsborough Presbyterian, First Baptist, and Dickerson Chapel) to ring their <br />44 church bells along with citizen and civic bells from the merchant district of historic Hillsborough <br />45 down King Street past the old Courthouse and to the Regulator Site. Instead of speeches, we <br />46 ring bells of all sizes in honor of the many years that the Bill of Rights has been in force and do <br />47 so all at the same time for 223 seconds at 1:OOPM. <br />48 <br />49 Scott Washington encouraged everyone to come out to Hillsborough to be part of this <br />50 event. <br />