Orange County NC Website
1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: October 6, 2020 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 8-g <br /> SUBJECT: Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization <br /> Comprehensive Transportation Plan Amendment <br /> DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> 1. Staff and OUTBoard Recommendation Nishith Trivedi, Transportation Planner, <br /> 919-245-2582 <br /> Tom Altieri, Comprehensive Planning <br /> Supervisor, 919-245-2579 <br /> Craig Benedict, Planning Director, <br /> 919-245-2592 <br /> PURPOSE: To approve a list of Orange County Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) <br /> Amendments in the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC <br /> MPO). <br /> BACKGROUND: On August 8, 2019, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) <br /> adopted a new Complete Streets Policy, to "encourage non-vehicular travel without compromising <br /> the safety, efficiency, or function of the facility". Subsequently, NCDOT distributed a Complete <br /> Streets Implementation Guide that specifies, "The adopted CTP will be considered the controlling <br /> plan for the identification of non-motorized facilities to be evaluated as part of a roadway project." <br /> The new Complete Streets Policy gives NCDOT the opportunity to consider paying for multimodal <br /> facilities - bike lanes, sidewalks, side paths, bus stop pullouts and pads - when they are part of <br /> roadway improvement projects through NCDOT's new Cost Share (section 6 - Complete Streets <br /> Implementation Guide). NCDOT will not consider projects until they are included in the CTP. <br /> Highway projects are then subject to inclusion in the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP), <br /> NCDOT's Strategic Prioritization of Transportation (SPOT) process and funding in the Strategic <br /> Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) before becoming reality. We have this opportunity <br /> with NCDOT only if the projects in Attachment 1 are included in the CTP. <br /> The CTP is the first step in a series of plans that need to be completed before a project is funded. <br /> The CTP is to represent the `universe' of possible projects and is not fiscally constrained. <br /> Following state's action, on November 13, 2019 the DCHC MPO amended its 2045 Metropolitan <br /> Transportation Plan (MTP) by including the State's new Complete Streets Policy and identified <br /> which projects would receive Complete Streets consideration. Since then, MPO staff has been <br /> working with local jurisdictions to identify potential CTP amendments so that they will be <br />