Orange County NC Website
~-~-a~- <br />~d <br />(~ ~ (~ ~ Attachment 1 3 <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />A RESOLUTION PROVIDING COMMENTS TO THE <br />NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION <br />REGARDING THE <br />DRAFT 2009 - 2015 STATE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM <br />DIVISION 7 PROJECTS IN ORANGE COUNTY <br />WHEREAS, Orange County welcomes the opportunity to participate in development of <br />the 2009-2015 North Carolina Transportation Improvement Program, and <br />WHEREAS, Orange County gives priority to identified safety needs in the vicinity of <br />schools, on existing roads and bridges, to other transportation projects that encourage <br />alternatives to automobile travel, to projects that minimize adverse impacts on the natural <br />environment and cultural sites, and to those projects that foster economic development in the <br />designated Economic Development Districts; and <br />WHEREAS, Orange County has submitted a Priority List of transportation projects for <br />inclusion in the 2009 - 2015 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP); and <br />WHEREAS, the North Carolina Department of Transportation has released the Draft <br />2009 - 2015 STIP for public comment; and <br />WHEREAS, Orange County, as a member of the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro <br />(DCHC) Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has submitted comments to the <br />Transportation Advisory Committee of the DCHC MPO regarding transportation projects <br />within the Metropolitan Area Boundary, which are attached to this resolution; and <br />WHEREAS, the North Carolina Board of Transportation is the sole approving authority <br />for the S~"IP for areas of the State outside Metropolitan Area Boundaries; and <br />WHEREAS, a large portion of Orange County lies outside the DCHC MPO MAB; <br />NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Orange County Board of <br />Commissioners that Orange County submits the following comments regarding transportation <br />projects in areas of the County outside the DCHC MPO MAB, as submitted in the attached <br />recommendation of the Orange County Unified Transportation Board, for consideration by the <br />North Carolina Department of Transportation in development of the 2009- 2015 State <br />Transportation Improvement Program: <br />1. Orange County is concerned that cuts in appropriated federal transportation funds to <br />North Carolina coupled with the rapid increase in construction costs have reduced funding <br />sources for bicycle and pedestrian projects in order to prevent further delay of highway <br />projects. Orange County supports greater funding for alternative modes for <br />