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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: May 7, 2024 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 6-b <br /> SUBJECT: Approval of the Orange County US 70 Multimodal Corridor Study (MCS) <br /> DEPARTMENT: Orange County Transportation Services (OCTS) <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> 1. Final US 70 MCS Nishith Trivedi, Transportation Director, <br /> 2. Excerpt from Draft April 15, 2024 919-245-2007 <br /> OUTBoard Minutes <br /> PURPOSE: To approve the Orange County US 70 Multimodal Corridor Study. <br /> BACKGROUND: In 2019, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) approved US 70 as a <br /> County priority for consideration in the State's Strategic Prioritization of Transportation (SPOT) <br /> process. VHB, a consulting firm, recently completed the US 70 Multimodal Corridor Study <br /> (Attachment 1). It presents a comprehensive understanding that safety and congestion issues <br /> would be addressed through the State's highway mobility, complete streets, and local <br /> development review process for multimodal accommodations. <br /> Key Highlights <br /> • US 70 to be designated a Transit Emphasis Corridor with specific transit improvements. <br /> • Multimodal recommendations are bike lanes, sidewalks, multiuse path, and transit access <br /> • Reduce speed and accept widening as an unavoidable future of the corridor east of Mebane. <br /> NCDOT Complete Streets and County Complete Street Policy <br /> All highway projects go through a comprehensive "complete" use assessment. Per the new policy, <br /> "during the Comprehensive Transportation Planning (CTP) process, bicycle, pedestrian, transit, <br /> and other multimodal usage shall be presumed to exist along and across certain corridors." The <br /> North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) recognizes that an individual user is a <br /> pedestrian, bicyclist, transit rider, EV/gas vehicle driver, etc., and often times in the same day. <br /> Therefore, the policy dictates, "Consideration of multimodal elements will begin at the inception <br /> of the transportation planning process and the decisions made will be documented." The BOCC <br /> also adopted a Complete Street and Vision Zero policy on October 2022. <br /> Local Authorization — UDO and Collector Street Plans <br /> The Orange County Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) section 2.5.3.(v) and 6.10.A.1.(b), <br /> includes the requirements for reserving and dedicating right of way or requiring road construction <br /> listed in locally adopted Collector Street Plans or on the CTP. Specific mention is also made to <br /> the dedication of right of way based on the concepts shown on the CTP and locally adopted <br /> transportation plans, in accordance with N.C.G.S. § 136 66.2 and § 136 66.10. Orange County <br /> currently has three locally adopted transportation plans: <br /> • Efland-Buckhorn-Mebane and Orange Grove Road Access Management Plans <br />