Orange County NC Website
6. <br /> Hope Corridor Open S <br /> Forest and Eno RPver State Park." One.of threcommendations of Duke <br /> of the <br /> study is to construct a wildlife corridor under the I-85/US 70 interchange <br /> in conjunction with TIP Project I-305. This crossing would have two <br /> positive effects at the I-85/US 70 interchange: <br /> 1) it would reduce the amount of vehicular incidents on I-85 <br /> due to wildlife crossing in traffic, and; <br /> 2) the corridor would provide a safe connector for wildlife <br /> migrating between the Duke Forest and Eno River State <br /> Park. <br /> NCDOT was consulted during the study and advised on a staff level of the need for a <br /> 6' x 100' culvert along the stream under the I-85/US 70 interchange. This culvert specification <br /> is recommended by Tom Hoctor, a wildlife corridor specialist from the University of Florida <br /> at Gainesville. <br /> The Orange County Board of Commissioners is now formally requesting this wildlife corridor <br /> be addressed in the early stages of planning for the 1-305 project. We encourage your planners <br /> to include this as an element in the environmental assessment scheduled in 1997, the design, and <br /> the final construction of the project. <br /> IL Intersection Improvements - Countywide <br /> Orange County recognizes that intersection improvements provide immediate safety benefits <br /> without the environmental impact or cost of full roadway improvements. We request the <br /> following intersections be programmed either through Transportation Improvement Program <br /> funding or Safety Program funding for improvements which can be implemented as soon as <br /> possible. Each of these locations are listed on the NCDOT High Accident Location Analysis <br /> for Orange County. <br /> 1) NC 86 / New Hope Church Road (SR 1723) experiences two types of traffic <br /> during the a.m. and p.m. peak hours. NC 86 carries daily commuters to Chapel <br /> Hill, Hillsborough, and I-40 as well as students to New Hope School. Delays and <br /> dangerous vehicular movements are experienced due to the high amount of left <br /> turns at this intersection. We request it be improved to include turn lanes on all <br /> approaches. <br /> 2) US 70 Bypass / Miller Road (SR 1555) also carries both local commuter traffic <br /> and Orange High School traffic. We appreciate the study in early October which <br /> indicates the.need for a full traffic signal at this location. We encourage you to <br /> place the signal as soon as possible. We also request the intersection be studied - <br /> for other improvements which will provide for safer traffic movement. <br />