Minutes 04-18-2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

16 When GoTriangle's consultant met with the Chapel Hill Town Council, a council member asked about affordable housing around the Orange County stations. The Consultant replied that land values would rise, and it would take substantial town and county investment to bring affordable housing near the rail line. Other speakers have demonstrated that light rail does not serve our transit needs, and that the huge cost puts our county at financial risk. In conclusion this EIS credits no environmental benefits to this project. Why are we spending all this money on light rail when we could be funding a fantastic system of electric buses and BRT up and down our major corridors for a fraction of the cost? She asked if the following document could be placed into the public record: What does the Durham-Orange Light Rail Environmental Impact Study Say? John Morris Many claims and counter claims about the DOLRT benefits and detriments are flying about. What does the very substantial GoTriangle Environmental Impact Study (EIS) conclude about the issues that are being debated? Energy Use The EIS estimates annual transportation energy use in the Triangle region, including cars and all forms of public transit, both for the no build alternative (no light rail) and with light rail in operation. Light rail is estimated to reduce annual transportation energy consumption by 83 billion British Thermal Units. This sounds like a lot, but it is less than a one tenth of one percent reduction. For such a long range and complex estimate, this is insignificant and meaningless. The EIS also estimated indirect energy consumption, the amount of energy used to manufacture materials and construct the light rail system. This indirect use amounts to 37 times the estimated annual energy conservation. So if the EIS is correct, it will take 37 years for the tiny annual energy savings to total the energy used for construction of the project. Air Quality The light rail project will have over 40 at grade street crossings, which will leave cars stopped and idling while the trains pass. There is a special federal requirement to estimate any increase in carbon emissions, which could contribute to climate change. The EIS studied several intersections and determined that carbon monoxide concentrations would not change at these locations. Other than this one issue specific to several intersections, the EIS contains no data, calculations, or modeling related to significant air quality parameters in the region or in the rail corridor. The EIS provides no basis to claim that light rail will improve air quality. Traffic Congestion The many at grade crossings will hold up traffic many times a day. The EIS studied a number of intersections near the track to see how the level of service ratings would be affected. In a number of cases the LOS goes down a grade or so, say from C to D.