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9 <br /> 51 <br /> 52 Max Bushell explained that highway projects can get funded in any of the three categories. <br /> 53 <br /> 54 Matt Day said that you're allowed to add bicycle as an incidental piece of a highway project. <br /> 55 <br /> 56 Max Bushell said that NCDOT does not build roads anymore without two foot shoulders. That is the new standard <br /> 57 <br /> 58 Matt Day added to Max's comment that the new standard applies only to a new road. Road repaving projects, Matt <br /> 59 continues, do not have to include the addition of two foot shoulders. <br /> 60 <br /> 61 Jeff Charles said that Orange County is not going to get a lot of new roads. Everything is about resurfacing and <br /> 62 making things bicycle friendly. <br /> 63 <br /> 64 Max Bushell suggested that ultimately what we really need to decide here is the top three projects in each category, <br /> 65 as those are the projects likely to receive funding. <br /> 66 <br /> 67 Heidi Perry asked if this is the list they had already come up with earlier in the year? <br /> 68 <br /> 69 Max Bushell said that no, it is not. It is the list he put together based on his assessment and the prioritization process <br /> 70 used in the last round of prioritization. Ultimately, at this level, the projects that will likely get funded are mostly <br /> 71 interchanges or highway projects. <br /> 72 <br /> 73 Art Menius asked about the necessity of improvement on i Hwy 54. <br /> 74 <br /> 75 Abigaile Pittman explained that the corridor study that they are doing has been designed to answer the question as to <br /> 76 what is really needed on Hwy 54. <br /> 77 <br /> 78 Matt Day explained that what the Board needs to think about with these rankings is what they believe is the most <br /> 79 important should be ranked high. He continued by stating that since they don't have the scores, it may be advisable <br /> 80 for the group to identify the projects they don't like, and then just accept the NCDOT rankings from highest score to <br /> 81 least for the remainder of the projects, then place the projects they don't like at the bottom of the list. He stated that <br /> 82 this is what Chatham County did. <br /> 83 <br /> 84 David Laudicina explained that he travels Hwy 54 often and in the morning it is pretty congested and that people who <br /> 85 work in Chapel Hill often times cannot afford to live there, so they are commuting and taking Hwy 54 in to work. <br /> 86 <br /> 87 Heidi Perry asked if it is congested from the lack of another lane or because there isn't smooth traffic flow. <br /> 88 <br /> 89 David Laudicina thinks that it is a traffic flow issue and that signal improvements may be able to help. <br /> 90 <br /> 91 Alex Castro agrees with Heidi that signalization could improve Hwy 54 more than adding lanes would. <br /> 92 <br /> 93 Jeff Charles said that signalization causes a lot of potential problems and that it is not a simple fix. <br /> 94 <br /> 95 Max Bushell explained that he needs to break number two under TARPO into two projects. <br /> 96 <br /> 97 Matt Day explained that DOT required they leave the widening project in there. <br /> 98 <br /> 99 Max Bushell said that from what he is hearing, the operational improvement project should be a top priority. <br /> 100 <br /> 101 Matt Day agreed with Max Bushell. <br /> 2 <br />