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

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13 In December, Norfolk Southern expressed concerns regarding railroad operations, and stakeholders, including Duke University, expressed concerns over light-rail plans calling for a section of Blackwell Street to be closed to vehicles. As a result, the project team proposed a new tunnel option for the light rail in downtown Durham. In part because of the proposed design changes in downtown Durham and the unresolved agreements, the FTA recently sent GoTriangle staff a draft risk assessment report stating that an additional $237 million in project costs and contingency must be built into the project budget. The FTA also informed GoTriangle that the downtown Durham project change would require a significant amount of additional environmental study and review. Last week I traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with representatives of the Federal Transit Administration and had some very frank conversations. FTA let us know that because of the continued uncertainty with Duke and the North Carolina Railroad and the additional environmental assessment needed for the downtown Durham changes, it is no longer practical to anticipate that Durham and Orange counties' light-rail project will receive a Full Funding Grant Agreement by November 2019. That means this project would not be able to meet the Nov. 30 deadline set by the legislature and therefore would no longer be eligible for any state funding. At this point, the counties would have to identify a path to cover the loss of the state's$190 million, the additional $237 million in project costs and contingency, and the approximately$87 million shortfall in fundraising efforts. That doesn't include an FTA requirement to identify a source for up to 10 percent of the project costs to cover potential cost overruns or revenue shortfalls, the cost of borrowing or possible costs associated with pursuing eminent domain to secure the remaining land needed. Based on all of those factors and our most recent meeting with the FTA, I am asking today that the board recommend that the cost- sharing partners from Durham and Orange counties and the Durham—Chapel Hill—Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO) discontinue the light-rail project. It pains me to make this recommendation. We remain committed to improving transit in the Triangle and will work with our county partners to determine what elements of the existing community investment can be repurposed as we move forward. gotrlangle.org 919-485-FIDE (7433) 1 custornerservlcer-*)gotriangle.org