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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: January 21, 2003 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. !5- <br />SUBJECT: Resolution In Support of Adequate Bridge Length and Vertical Clearance For <br />US 15/501 Crossing of New Hope Creek <br />DEPARTMENT: County Commissioners PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Draft Resolution <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Commissioner Brown <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />Durham 688-7331 <br />Mebane 336-227-2031 <br />PURPOSE: To consider a Resolution In Support of Adequate Bridge Length and Vertical <br />Clearance for US 15/501 Crossing of New Hope Creek. <br />BACKGROUND: North Carolina Department of Transportation, as part of TIP Project U-4012 <br />to add a northbound and a southbound lane to US 15-501 from north of Mt. Moriah Road to <br />south of Garrett Road, will replace the bridge over New Hope Creek. The NCDOT preferred <br />design, as outlined in the department's Environmental Assessment for the project, includes a <br />205-foot bridge span with an eight-foot vertical clearance. The NCDOT preferred design is <br />below the recommended height for trail crossings recommended by the State of North Carolina <br />Wildlife Resources Commission, and will impair trail maintenance activities, and will preclude <br />use of the trail for equestrian activities in the future. <br />North Carolina's Natural Heritage program recognizes New Hope Creek Corridor as one of the <br />most significant habitat corridors in the piedmont. The New Hope Creek Open Space Corridor <br />Plan, adopted by the City of Durham, Durham County, the Town of Chapel Hill and Orange <br />County in 1991, calls for the New Hope Creek floodplain to be preserved as a significant wildlife <br />habitat and area recreation amenity. <br />The construction, in 1956, of the present bridge used extensive fill to minimize the length of <br />bridge span needed. The result has been significant deterioration in natural qualities of the <br />floodplain for wildlife habitat and movement, the natural flow of floodwaters and recreational trail <br />use. The new bridge design could avoid those same impacts to the corridor and help remediate <br />the past environmental degradation. Such bridge design would likely require a 300-foot span <br />and average 10-foot vertical clearance. <br />FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with approval of the resolution.