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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: September 19, 2023 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 6-a <br /> SUBJECT: Orange County NC 54 Multimodal Corridor Study <br /> DEPARTMENT: Orange County Transportation Services (OCTS) <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> 1. Final Study Phase 2 Nishith Trivedi, Transportation Director, <br /> 2. Excerpt from May 22, 2023 Approved 919-245-2007 <br /> OUTBoard Minutes <br /> PURPOSE: To consider approval of the NC 54 Multimodal Corridor Study in Orange County. <br /> BACKGROUND: In Fall 2018, the consultant (VHB) concluded the NC 54 West Multimodal <br /> Corridor Study presenting a thorough existing conditions, environmental and economic analysis <br /> of the corridor, two rounds of public engaging workshops in each of the local jurisdictions and <br /> presented the full report (link). VHB also followed up with a Phase 2 (Attachment 1) report <br /> addressing all the important issues raised throughout the planning process. <br /> The City of Graham approved the study prior to the Phase 2 report while the Burlington-Graham <br /> Metropolitan Planning Organization in collaboration with Alamance County approved the study <br /> in its entirety with phase 2. These entities submitted the western portion of the corridor for the <br /> State's Strategic Prioritization of Transportation (SPOT) 6.0 and will do so again for 7.0. Orange <br /> County received the report, as did the Triangle Area Rural Planning Organization (TARPO) and <br /> the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO). Both <br /> regional agencies defer to the County respectively. In Fall 2019, the Town of Carrboro Town <br /> Council unanimously approved a resolution unconditionally opposing the study. <br /> While Orange County continues coordinating and collaborating with all its local and regional <br /> partners along the corridor since the study's completion, traffic on NC 54 has returned to pre- <br /> covid levels, serious injuries and fatalities continue at increasing rate, and development pressure <br /> increase in southern Orange County. Orange County continues to collaborate with the North <br /> Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), which updated its Complete Street Policy and <br /> Implementation Guide in 2019, revamping State highway projects for a more comprehensive <br /> benefit for all users. The State also grants local government the ability to adopt transportations <br /> plans and implement them through Comprehensive Plan and Unified Development Ordinances. <br /> State's New Process— Complete Streets (link) <br /> Over the past three years, NCDOT has made significant progress is advancing the policy and <br /> improving its implementation through its Project Delivery Network (PDN). All highway projects <br /> now go through a comprehensive "complete" use assessment. The Comprehensive <br /> Transportation Plan (CTP) is the governing document for the State's new Complete Street Policy <br />