Agenda - 6-c - Consideration to Discontinue the Durham-Orange Light Rail Project

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12 -ry GoTriangle board recommends- li htrailproject be discontinued g For Immediate Release Contact: Mike Charbonneau, 919-485-7413 Research Triangle Park, NC (March 27, 2019) —The GoTriangle Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to recommend that the cost-sharing partners in Durham and Orange counties and the Durham - Chapel Hill - Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization discontinue the light-rail project. The board acted on the recommendation of GoTriangle President and CEO Jeff Mann, who read this statement: The light-rail project has been considered the spine of Durham and Orange counties' transit plans since Durham voters in 2011 and Orange voters in 2012 approved a half-cent sales tax to invest in significant public transit improvements. As we've stated many times, the project would create and support tens of thousands of new jobs and infuse billions of dollars into our local and state economies. The final, approved light-rail alignment connects three of the top 10 employers in the state and three major hospitals as well as UNC, Duke and North Carolina Central University. Over the years, the two counties have used this approved light-rail alignment as a basis for land-use, economic development and affordable housing plans to best accommodate the more than 7,000 people the counties are adding each year. Unfortunately, this project has recently faced a number of significant challenges, most notably Duke University's refusal to sign necessary agreements with GoTriangle. Additionally, several changes to state law since 2016 brought the anticipated state contribution to the project from 25 percent to 10 percent and eventually down to no more than $190 million, or about 7.7 percent. In late 2018, the Durham County Board of Commissioners approved spending an additional $57.6 million in voter-approved, transit- designated revenue from Durham County to close part of the gap created by the legislative change. The financial plan also anticipated that$102.5 million in light-rail project funding would come from other public and private sources, including property donations through the GoTransit Partners' Capital Campaign. Unfortunately, the prolonged and ultimately unfruitful negotiations with Duke University halted those fundraising efforts. The 2018 legislative change also required that all other nonfederal funds for the project be committed by April 30, 2019, and all federal funds no later than Nov. 30, 2019, for the light rail to receive any state funding for the project. Over the past six months, new challenges have made those deadlines increasingly difficult to meet and contributed to additional project costs. For more than a decade, and more intensely over the past year, GoTriangle and local elected officials have worked closely with Duke to address the university's concerns, going as far as to include a $90 million design change to elevate the light rail over Erwin Road at the university's request. As you know, Duke has refused to sign a cooperative agreement with GoTriangle and more recently denied our request to continue conversation through mediation. As of today, we also have not reached a final agreement with the state-owned North Carolina Railroad that is also necessary for the project to move forward.