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

Browse Search

11 of the Sevenmile Creek watershed, a possible future water source. The Upper Eno watershed, of which Sevenmile Creek is a sub-basin, has been designated a WS-II watershed, thus the county is committed to protect the water quality by working with NCDOT to implement the strongest protection measures available. B) I-305 - widening of I-85 to six lanes and reconstruction of interchanges from Orange Grove Road to Durham County Line 1) Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities - Orange County has worked over the last year with the MPO to produce the Regional Bicycle Plan for Durham and Orange Counties. This plan represents the first such study to identify both rural and urban bicycle needs for one region. An element of the plan is to provide pedestrian and bicycle facilities at interchanges of major highways. Some of Orange County's major commuter roads that interchange with I-85 include NC 86, Old NC 86 (SR 1009), and US 70. These facilities are often used for bicycle and pedestrian travel as well, and the County requests that accommodations be made for these two alternate modes of travel when designing and constructing the I-85 widening. Features requested for inclusion are sidewalks, bike lanes, and adequate guardrails on overpasses. 2) 1-305 Wildlife Corridor Under I-85 In 1993 the Orange County Planning Department, in conjunction with the UNC Chapel Hill Department of City and Regional Planning compiled a report titled "New 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.