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8 <br /> The Hillsborough district, all 724 acres of it, is well on its way to completion. Much of this district <br /> has already been built and consists of a hospital, a community college, and compact residential <br /> housing. According to the Plan, the remaining 200 acres "will require design solutions to buffer <br /> neighborhoods from future development." That's what the Plan says! But the RTLP project <br /> would cover 65% of this land with 6-story buildings and parking lots. A small part of the <br /> remaining 35% will be ornamental trees and bushes as well as some retention ponds. But the <br /> developer wants to use the biggest portion remaining--two creeks and their corresponding <br /> floodplains--as "buffer" too. <br /> According to the Eno River Association, this warehouse complex would be built on a critical <br /> conservation corridor connecting the Eno watershed with the New Hope watershed. They <br /> understand that the site plan does not go far enough to protect water quality. <br /> Just last year, residents temporarily lost the use of Davis Road when a 50-foot sinkhole split the <br /> road, just downhill of the proposed access point. A 7-foot high culvert was installed and the road <br /> re-paved several months later while the residents used Orange Grove Road instead of Old <br /> NC86. If you examine the topography of this area, the parcels in question sit higher than Davis <br /> Road. And we all know that water runs downhill - especially on pavement. What's the design <br /> solution for this problem? <br /> Finally, across the street from this warehouse complex are a church, a preschool and a historic <br /> African American cemetery. Diesel exhaust, vibrating engines and squealing brakes are <br /> obviously a poor fit. What's the design solution for this problem? Bushes?A few trees? And if <br /> Davis Road needs to be widened to manage 18-wheelers trying to exit from the warehouse <br /> complex onto this country road, how much easement is available by the cemetery to allow for <br /> more road? <br /> I know you'll do the right thing and require the developer to come up with better design <br /> Solutions to make this a better fit. Thank you for your time and consideration. <br /> William Mitchell read the following remarks: <br /> I'm part of Save Hillsborough. I live at 310 Davis Rd and appreciate the commissioners giving <br /> me a few minutes to express my concerns about the proposed RTLP project—and specifically <br /> to speak about potential traffic safety issues that we feel have not been adequately addressed. I <br /> will focus on one particularly hazardous situation that will likely arise if this development is <br /> approved. <br /> • As you're probably aware, the plan originally proposed by the developer's traffic <br /> engineer was to route trucks exiting from the warehouses directly north to Interstate 40 <br /> by means of the existing service road adjacent to the 1-40 off ramp. When that plan was <br /> rejected by NCDOT, a revised proposal re-routed the exiting traffic to Davis Road, at a <br /> spot 1,000 feet from its T-intersection with Old NC Hwy. 86. Trucks would turn out of this <br /> Davis Road access point to exit left from the warehouse complex--make another left <br /> onto Old NC Hwy. 86--and then make their way to the Interstates (1-40 and 1-85). <br /> • The NCDOT recommends that, based on the developer's traffic impact analysis, a traffic <br /> signal would be installed at Davis and Old 86 in order to manage the large volume of <br /> truck and vehicular traffic. What could go wrong? <br /> • Members of our community who live along this stretch of road can tell you from first- <br /> hand observation: there's a blind curve at Jedi Way, which meets Davis Rd. just a little <br /> over 600 feet from the proposed RTLP exit. It is part of our everyday experience to see <br /> drivers coming around that turn from further out in the county, often driving at a speed of <br />