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January 21, 2015 Attachment C 8 <br />D.1. Surrounding Context <br />• NE of downtown Chapel Hill and UNC main campus <br />• Along Hwy 15/501- a gateway corridor and a high investment corridor <br />• Transportation issues within the area <br />• Less than 3 miles away from downtown <br />• US 15/501 connects area to the City of Durham to the northeast <br />• US 15/501 is the main connection to Pittsboro to the south <br />D.2. Existing Land Uses <br />• Commercial — 74% <br />0 3 aging strip retail centers — Ram's Plaza, Eastgate Mall and Village Plaza <br />o Majority of properties of Eastgate Mall are in the floodplain <br />o A few office buildings <br />o 5 hotels <br />• High Density Residential — 13% - along Ephesus Church Road <br />• Low - Density Residential — 2 %, along Fordham Boulevard <br />• Parks and Open Spaces — 0.4% <br />E. Public Transit Element of the Plan <br />• Existing Transit Service Serving the Study Area <br />• On weekdays, CHT routes D, CL and F serve the study area. These <br />routes have approximately ten, five, and eleven stops within the study <br />area, respectively. Route DXP is an express route through the study area <br />via Franklin Street. <br />• On Saturdays, CHT routes DM and FG have six and thirteen stops within <br />the study area, respectively. <br />o TTA serves the area with routes 402/403 and 412/413. These are <br />express routes that run through the study area via Franklin Street. <br />• The Tarheel Express is a shuttle system that operates from the University <br />Mall Park & Ride facility for basketball and football games. <br />• Duke University offers the Robertson Scholars Bus Route which runs <br />along US 15 -501 between Duke University and the UNC campus, with <br />boardings occurring at Morehead Planetarium. <br />• Key transportation elements in the Ephesus Church Road / Fordham <br />Boulevard Small Area Plan framework include improved access and <br />connectivity within the area for vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists. <br />• Orange County Planning Comment —Additional Transit Service <br />o A bus element network is needed to bring people to the study area, and to <br />enhance connectivity throughout the larger area and region via other <br />transit service providers via a transit hub: <br />■ A circulator shuttle that would provide service to: <br />Downtown Chapel Hill <br />The UNC Campus dorms <br />Carolina North <br />• An adjusted OPT 420 bus route the would provide service to: <br />Rural Orange County <br />Hillsborough <br />