Agenda - 02-07-2017 - 8-a - Durham Chapel Hill Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization Comprehensive Transportation Plan

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37 US 501 (North Duke Street) (1-85 to US 501 Business (North Roxboro Street)) US 501 (North Duke Street), from 1-85 to US 501 Business (North Roxboro Street), is currently a five-lane roadway with sidewalks on both sides of the segment from 1-85 to Murray Avenue. This US highway is the principal road between north Durham and 1-85 and central Durham. US 501 merges with US 501 Business (North Roxboro Road) in northern Durham to continue north to the city of Roxboro (approximately 28 miles). The CTP includes the creation of a four-lane, divided synchronized street cross-section with turn lanes at major intersections and commercial driveways. A six-lane divided roadway would likely require impacts to many structures. It is expected that US 501 will attract the majority of new trips as northern Durham County grows because the CTP does not recommend significant improvements on parallel routes. NC 157 (Guess Road) does not have any improvements and possible capacity improvements on North Roxboro Street might be limited to the addition of a narrow median because of the proximity of residential and commercial buildings to the current roadway. Guess Road has similar limitations. Thus, capacity improvements for this corridor are likely to be less costly and complex on North Duke Street given a relatively lower density of residential and commercial development. The current volume exceeds the capacity. On US 501,the 2013 AADT ranges from 29,000 to 34,000 vehicles per day(vpd) on a roadway with a 26,800 vpd capacity (LOS D). There appears to be excess capacity on one parallel route. Guess Road (1.3 miles to the west) has 23,000 vpd on a roadway with a 44,000 vpd capacity. The current 28,000 vpd on North Roxboro Street(0.8 miles to the east), however, greatly exceeds 22,200 vpd capacity of that roadway. The 2040 volume is projected to range from 40,000 to 50,000 vpd. This will yield volume-to-capacity ratios from 1.4 to 1.7, an indication of heavy travel delays on this important corridor. The 2040 volume on North Roxboro Street will push that roadway to a highly congested 1.9 volume-to-capacity ratio, but Guess Road will continue to operate at a volume that is below capacity. There are not any major roads that intersect US 501 along this segment and as a result there are not any extraordinary intersection delays or safety problems. The intersections on this corridor have a level-of- service of C or better(i.e.,A or B) based on the 2014 DCHC MPO Mobility Report Card. Residential development along this segment and the retail and office development on the northern section generate bicycle, pedestrian and transit trips. The CTP recommends bike lanes for the complete extent of this road segment and consideration of sheltered transit stops and bus pull-outs in the design. Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) project EB-5715 is a sidewalk on the east side of US 501 from Murray Avenue to North Roxboro Road that is planned for construction in 2017. US 501 crosses Ellerbee Creek immediately south of the US 501/Stadium Drive intersection but there are not any associated wetlands or floodplains. The entire length of this study segment is within a protected watershed. Minimum Problem Statements—Highway—4