Agenda - 04-27-2017 - 1 - Consideration of the Final Draft Durham – Orange Light Rail Cost Sharing Agreement and Final Draft Orange County Transit Plan

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43 Orange County Transit Plan April 25, 2017 Earlier, on November 11, 2015, the DCHC MPO unanimously engineering of the project is ongoing and is expected to passed a resolution endorsing the NEPA Preferred Alternative culminate in execution of a Full Funding Grant Agreement for the D-O LRT Project. (FFGA) with the federal government in 2020. The project is expected to open in 2028, two years later than originally One of the most frequent comments received during the NEPA anticipated. study was a request that GoTriangle improve the connection between the D-O LRT Project and North Carolina Central Ongoing work on the D-O LRT Project is being funded using Tax University (NCCU), which is located approximately 0.6 miles District Revenue and is eligible to be partially reimbursed by the south of the Alston Avenue station across the NC 147 freeway. federal government upon execution of a FFGA. In response to these comments, FTA and GoTriangle committed to analyzing the feasibility of extending the alignment to the NCCU campus. This change was known as the "NCCU Station Refinement," and FTA required preparation of a Supplemental Beyond the projects planned to be funded within the first five Environmental Assessment(Supplemental EA)to document the years, the original Plan identified further transit needs that impacts of the refinement before it could be included in the likely could not be funded with the Tax District Revenue. project scope. On November 7, 2016, GoTriangle and FTA published a Supplemental EA which determined that the NCCU Station In the original Plan, Chapel Hill identified eight service priorities Refinement would not result in significant adverse social, for a total of 33,136 additional hours of identified new service. economic, or environmental impacts. The public was invited to The original Plan had funding for approximately two-thirds of comment on the Supplemental EA through December 7. On those hours. December 14, 2016, the FTA issued an Amended Record of Decision giving environmental clearance to the NCCU Station Refinement. Also on December 14, 2016, the DCHC MPO Several services were identified in the original Plan as future unanimously passed a resolution amending the Locally regional service priorities to be implemented after 2020. Preferred Alternative to incorporate the NCCU Station Refinement. • 30-minute service frequencies on Route ODX, up from hourly On December 30, 2016, GoTriangle submitted to FTA its . New express service from White Cross to Carrboro to application to advance the D-O LRT Project into the Engineering Phase of the federal New Starts program. Design and Chapel Hill, with 30-minute frequency Final Page 19 of 65