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1 <br /> ORANGE C O U N T Y <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: June 29, 1993 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item # <br /> SUBJECT: UPDATE ON THE WIDENING OF I-85 AND CLOSING OF ACCESS BETWEEN <br /> WEST TEN ROAD AND BEN JOHNSTON ROAD <br /> DEPARTMENT: PLANNING PUBLIC HEARING Yes x No <br /> ATTACHMENT(S) : INFORMATION CONTACT: Gene Bell <br /> - Aerial Photo of Project 1-304 Ext. 2589 <br /> - Excerpt from Orange County's <br /> 11-13-92 TIP Request <br /> - 6-18-93 Letter to Tom Norman TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br /> of NCDOT Bicycle Program Hillsborough - 732-8181 <br /> Durham - 688-7331 <br /> Mebane - 227-2031 <br /> Chapel Hill - 967-9251 <br /> PURPOSE: To receive a report on the current status of planned <br /> interchange modifications in the West Ten Road/Ben <br /> Johnston Road area. <br /> BACKGROUND: Project I-304, widening I-85 to eight lanes, calls for <br /> removal of overpasses which carry I-85 over West Ten <br /> Road (SR 1144 ) west of Hillsborough. The section of <br /> West Ten Road under I-85 is gravel and carries low <br /> traffic volumes. The road is significant locally in <br /> that it provides the only low-volume traffic link <br /> between Hillsborough and Efland. It is important in <br /> the draft Regional Bicycle Plan because it provides a <br /> continuous east-west route from Mebane to Hillsborough <br /> via West Ten Road and Ben Johnston Road. <br /> To offset the closing of the road, DOT plans to extend <br /> Ben Johnston Road west to the 70 connector and extend <br /> the connector south to West Ten Road. The County has <br /> opposed closing of the road since early 1990. DOT's <br /> position has been that keeping access open under I-85 <br /> is not cost-effective and that such an improvement <br /> would have to be funded by the County. <br /> In its TIP request for areas outside the Durham-Chapel <br /> Hill-Carrboro (DCHC) Urban Area last November, Orange <br /> County requested that access be kept open under I-85. <br /> The request further stated that if continued access <br /> was not possible, then bike lanes at least four feet <br /> wide (as opposed to two feet) be provided along the 70 <br />