Agenda - 02-19-2002-10b - Laserfiche WebLink

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y 6 Conclusion Orange County must consider its interests in deciding which option best addresses its transportation needs. The county should consider whether its transportation interests in the predominantly rural areas of the county are more compatible with the more urban portions of the county and neighboring Durham County, or more compatible with the rural portions of neighboring counties. The county should consider that within an MPO, the MPO has the authority to adopt transportation plans, decide priority of transportation projects, and can prevent unwanted projects from being constructed; while the RPO has only advisory authority and NCDOT decides priority of transportation projects to be constructed. The county may also consider that local governments do not contribute direct funding for MPO operations while local governments must contribute 20% of the funding for RPO operations. (However, the funding would be a minimal issue since the 20% match - $20,000 to $25,000, respectively, for $80,000 base to $100,000 maximum 80% to be funded by NCDOT - would be divided among the counties making up the RPO.) Orange County must also decide whether its transportation interests in the predominantly rural areas of the county are more compatible with counties in the Triangle J region or with counties to the west that are in the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation service area, or with some other combination of adjacent counties that are not already committed to a Rural Planning Organization (for example, Alamance and Chatham). For the latter scenario, Orange County must develop a proposal for those counties that outlines the structure and operation for the RPO.