Minutes 12-09-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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