Agenda - 10-19-1993 - VIII-C - Laserfiche WebLink

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