Minutes 09-15-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

1. What's the "Western Connector" referred to so vaguely at the top of the list of new highway projects on p.5? 2. There's a meeting on Tuesday morning to discuss the widening of NC54 west of Carrboro, as mentioned via asterisk under Carry-Over Projects on p. 7. This item may need to be pulled to reflect the results of that meeting, as Carrboro is strongly opposed to the staff and TARPO recommendation. 3. Please define a "modernization project," as for new highway projects 6-8 in Orange County or 8-10 in the list of combined projects. Thanks. Please see below follow-up information from Bret Martin: 1) The Western Connector is a proposed project in Moore County in or near Pinehurst. All projects involving Orange County on the list are underlined and italicized to distinguish them from projects in other jurisdictions within the TARPO planning area. 2) If pulled from the consent agenda, staff will be prepared to address any questions or facilitate any discussion for the item that may need to occur as a follow-up to the meeting scheduled earlier in the day. The Town of Carrboro is only opposed to the project being submitted as a widening but is in favor of the project being submitted for consideration of operational improvements and intersection improvements. The TARPO Prioritization Subcommittee recommendation is to submit all of these variations to NCDOT for scoring. While the original list of TARPO projects that the BOCC endorsed contained only alternative operational improvements for the corridor rather than widening, within the TARPO Prioritization Subcommittee, NCDOT Division 7 recommended that the widening project stay as a carry-over project to be scored independently of the other project variations. In the event that NCDOT Division 7 and any local jurisdiction do not agree on how and if projects within the existing SPOT database are submitted, it is NCDOT's policy that the project will remain in the database "as is" and be carried forward for scoring and consideration of inclusion in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). However, because the project crosses into the DCHC MPO planning area and the project is not currently in the financially constrained DCHC MPO Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP), it cannot be included in the STIP even if it scores well enough to be included unless the MPO Board takes an action to include it. Accordingly, there are further potential barriers in place for the Town of Carrboro to take an action of opposition to the widening of the facility. It is Orange County transportation planning staff's recommendation to keep the idea of widening the facility as a long-term vision or alternative because current and projected data tell us that it will be needed. However, these data will need to be updated and revisited over time to research the potential effects that other transportation actions may have on traffic volumes for this facility and to determine if a $57 million widening project can still be justified. Transportation planning staff agrees that a less impactful short-term solution involving operational improvements would address much of the existing deficiencies along the corridor that could function, as an appropriate interim step toward potential widening if data continue to support that adding travel lane capacity should occur.