Agenda - 06-04-1981 - Laserfiche WebLink

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, with the Towns of Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro. NC 86 and NC 1009 (Old NC 86) link Hilleborough with the Chanel Hill-Carrboro urbanizing area. In addition to providing intra-County service, inter-County service link- ing Orange County residential areas with employment centers in Durham, The Research Triangle Park and Raleigh is facilitated along US 15-501, NC 54, NC 1737 (Erwin Road) and NC 1718 (Mt. Sinai Road). As Orange County is characterized by a negative net commutation pattern, with Orange County residents employed outside the County numbering more than non-residents employed in Orange County, the adequacy of the road network providing access to these employment centers is particularly important. In turn, the existing road network influences and encourages residential-workplace dispersion, both within Orange County and between Orange County and adjacent counties containing important employment centers, by facilitating such commutation patterns. Construction of proposed Interstate 40, shown on the Proposed Land Use Plan map, would most likely significantly impact upon the existing traffic patterns by providing greater access to major traffic generators and encouraging potential development in areas adjacent to the route. The relationship between residential and commercial uses throughout the County is a bit more problematic, particularly in the fringe areas just H outside the urban and urbanizing portions of the County along heavily travelled roads. These roads are subject to the sprawl of commercial activities in an unsightly manner along long stretches of the roads. In rural areas, the provision of commercial activities in appropriate locations to serve the needs of local residents is important to satisfy quality of life concerns and minimize the adverse effects of the rela- tive isolation of these residents from major population centers in the County. The goals and policies of the Orange County Land Use Plan seeks to focus commercial activities in a concentrated manner at and near the inter- ' sections of important highways and roads, thereby providing for the needs of local residents and minimizing the inconvenient land consuming and unsightly sprawl of such uses along the transportation system. Certain important intersections in the County have been designated as activity nodes at which non-residential development of various types and varying levels of intensity would be permitted within a given dis- tance of the intersection. In essence, the transportation system would serve to provide good access to these activities and would support the land use policies directed at achieving the pattern of development de- sired in the County. ORANGE CCEINTYHIGHWAy CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM In order to assess the capacity of the existing transportation system to accomodate existing and future land use in terms of access and mobility a road classification system is required. The road classifi- cation system describes the roads comprising the transportation network by function, that is, the level of service provided. In the classifi- cation hierarchy the higher the road classification, the greater the lilt