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2 <br />Issues Regarding Paving Arthur Minnis Road <br />Paving the entire unpaved portion of Arthur Minnis Road (SR 1115), the portion <br />between Rocky Ridge Road and Dodson's Crossroads, will address safety issues <br />stemming from the condition of that segment of the road. Arthur Minnis Road could be <br />paved through the Secondary Road Improvement Program for Orange County. It is <br />NCDOT's policy to improve unsafe conditions, such as severe curves, when a road is <br />paved as part of that program. The County may request North Carolina Department of <br />Transportation (NCDOT) to include Arthur Minnis Road in the Secondary Road <br />Improvement Program for FY 2003-2004. That would allow NCDOT to start new <br />negotiation efforts with property owners to attain right-of-way. NCDOT cannot pave the <br />road unless the department has acquired the right-of-way for the road. <br />Arthur Minnis Road is classified as an urban minor arterial in the Land Use Element of <br />the Orange County Comprehensive Plan, as amended August 1990. The urban area <br />boundary has since been redefined closer to Hillsborough and Chapel Hill/Carrboro. <br />Arthur Minnis Road is no longer within the urban planning area; however, Arthur Minnis <br />Road still functions as a collector road. Arthur Minnis Road is the middle link of an <br />east-west collector route that includes Bradshaw Quarry Road (classified as a collector) <br />and New Hope Church Road (classified as an urban minor arterial). <br />Arthur Minnis Road is paved from Orange Grove Road to Dodson's Crossroads (west of <br />the subject segment) and from Old NC 86 to Rocky Ridge Road (east of the subject <br />segment), and is an important rural collector route. Average Daily Traffic (ADT) counts <br />prepared by NCDOT indicate between 200 (east of Dodson's Crossroads) and 250 <br />(west of Rocky Ridge Road) vehicles travel the unpaved segment of the road daily. <br />That represents a 28.5% (average of counts for both locations) increase in traffic over <br />the period 1994 - 2000 with a 22% increase in traffic from 1998 to 2000. <br />County Administration and staff, NCDOT, and some property owners along the unpaved <br />portion of Arthur Minnis Road have expressed concerns about safety issues based on <br />the condition of the road, being unpaved and having several severe curves. Some <br />property owners are also concerned that paving only a portion of the road will increase <br />unsafe conditions because drivers could operate at higher speeds on the paved portion, <br />and may not be able to adjust their speed quickly enough to safely handle curves when <br />transitioning to the unpaved portion of the road. <br />Background <br />Arthur Minnis Road, SR 1115, was rated priority 19 in the 1993 rating for paving <br />unpaved secondary roads (subdivision and rural) in Orange County. That list included <br />180 roads rated from 1 to 161 in order of priority for paving based on NC Board of <br />Transportation (BOT) criteria for paving unpaved secondary roads. The BOT also <br />noted its policy if right-of-way could not be obtained (if property owner would not <br />dedicate right-of-way), that road would not be paved.