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