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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: October 15, 2002 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. <br /> SUBJECT: Resolution Providing Comments Regarding Proposed Changes to the US 15-501 <br /> Fixed Guideway Corridor and Station Areas <br /> DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> 1. Resolution Karen Lincoln, ext, 2594 <br /> 2. 10/8/02 Newspaper Article <br /> Maps: TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br /> 3. US 15-501 MIS Phase II Recommended Transit Corridor Hillsborough 732-8181 <br /> 4 Proposed Alternative to Adopted Alignment Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br /> Durham 688-7331 <br /> Mebane (336)227-2031 <br /> PURPOSE: To consider a resolution providing comments to the City of Durham, Durham <br /> County and Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro (DCHC) Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) on <br /> proposed modifications to the US 15-501 Fixed Guideway Corridor and Station Areas. <br /> BACKGROUND: The City of Durham is holding a public hearing on October 21, 2002, to <br /> consider modifications to the US 15-501 Fixed Guideway Corridor and Station Areas recommended <br /> in Phase II. of the US 15-501 Major Investment Study (MIS). The City of Durham has received a <br /> development proposal to redevelop the South Square Mall site. That proposal would demolish the <br /> existing Mall and replace it with two large retail anchors at the southern end of the property <br /> (University Drive) with six outparcels along the outer edge of the property, and move the approved <br /> fixed guideway. corridor and transit station location off the site. The redevelopment proposal <br /> recommends using Shannon Road as the fixed guideway corridor and moving the transit station to <br /> the east side of Shannon Road. <br /> Phase II of the US 15-501 Major Investment Study, completed in 2001,was a cooperative effort of <br /> Chapel Hill, Durham, the Triangle Transit Authority, the North Carolina Department of <br /> Transportation, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University.. The Phase II <br /> Study evaluated several potential transit technologies and alignments. <br /> The DCHC TAC, on November 14, 2001, endorsed the fixed guideway alignment identified in the <br /> MIS Phase II report for inclusion in the DCHC 2025 Transportation Plan, and formally requested the <br /> City and County of Durham and the Town of Chapel Hill to initiate procedures to protect the <br /> corridor. The Durham City Council, in November 2001, endorsed the transit corridor as identified in <br /> Phase II of the US 15-501 MIS. <br /> The proposed development proposal for the South Square site appears to be inconsistent with the <br /> projected land use pattern for a fixed guideway station in this area and could result in lower <br /> ridership projections for the entire corridor. The development proposal only addresses the <br />