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122 <br /> condition marked by low volume and high speed, to the forced <br /> flow operations at low speeds marked by an 'F' level of <br /> service. <br /> While all the Township roads are currently operating within <br /> acceptable limits, the 1987 Hillsborough Thoroughfare Plan, <br /> adopted by the Town of Hillsborough, reported that many of <br /> the major area roads outside the Town limits are approaching <br /> desirable limits and one road within the Town limits, Churton <br /> Street, is over capacity. The North Carolina Department of <br /> Transportation Highway Capacity Manual gives 8,000 vehicles <br /> per day (vpd) as the capacity for a two-lane urban arterial <br /> with a level of service 'C' and a forty-five mph speed limit. IT <br /> Recorded traffic counts in 1987 were 7,500 vpd for US70 <br /> Bypass east of Town, 7,100 vpd for NC86 south of old NC10, <br /> and 6,500 vpd for NC86 north of US70 Bypass. <br /> The remaining arterial and collector roads in the Township <br /> had traffic counts well within acceptable limits. Average <br /> 1987 traffic counts on the remaining arterial roads where <br /> they enter the Township ranged from 1,600 vpd on Orange Grove <br /> Road to 2,100 on NC57. St. Mary's Road had a 1987 count of <br /> 1,100 vpd in neighboring Eno Township. Capacities on these <br /> roads, given a level of service 'C' and a 45 mph speed limit <br /> ranged upwards from 5,250 vpd. Even at 55 mph, capacities <br /> ranged from 2,100 on St. Mary's Road to 2,790 on NC57. <br /> The general capacity at level of service 'C' for an <br /> interstate with four lanes total is 54,000 vehicles per day. <br /> The 1986 average daily traffic count for 1-85 at Hillsborough <br /> reached 31,500 vehicles per day. Even at level of service <br /> 'B, ' which indicates stable flow at speeds equal or greater <br /> than 55 mph, the traffic count is well under the capacity of <br /> 48,000 vehicles per day. <br /> Agriculture <br /> Hillsborough Township has experienced a continuous and <br /> significant loss of agricultural lands as a result of <br /> farmland conversion over the last three decades. Between 1955 <br /> and 1977, the year the North Carolina Crop and Livestock <br /> Reporting Service discontinued its township cropland counts, <br /> Hillsborough Township lost 27% of its crop and pasture lands. <br /> Anecdotal, evidence from two sources since then indicates the <br /> trend has continued. <br /> The first source is the Orange County Agricultural Extension <br /> Service. They estimate that approximately 450 acres of <br /> 3.9-5 <br />