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~. ap/(--p 2G <br />Pi~'~ 3/sf r <br />~~'S-ZOO/_o~~~e. <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 2012 - 2018 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 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 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP); and <br />WHEREAS, the North Carolina Department of Transportation has revised its process <br />for developing the State TIP to be more transparent, and has released the 2011-2020 Work <br />Program containing a Draft 2012 - 2018 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 (MAB); and <br />WHEREAS, the North Carolina Board of Transportation is the sole approving authority <br />for the STIP 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 the County, as recommended by the Orange County Unified Transportation Board, <br />for consideration by the North Carolina Department of Transportation in development of the <br />Final 2012- 2018 State Transportation Improvement Program: <br />1. Orange County supports greater funding for alternative modes for transportation. <br />2. TIP Project E-4980, pedestrian bridge on Orange Grove Road over I-40: Orange County <br />urges DOT to fund the construction of the pedestrian bridge in the 2011-2020 <br />Transportation Improvement Plan. This pedestrian bridge is the central element in the <br />Safe Routes to School plan for Grady A. Brown Elementary School and for Cedar Ridge <br />High School. Without the bridge, the SRTS plan cannot move forward. <br />We also recommend that the project be modified to include a short stretch of sidewalk on <br />the north side of the bridge extending from the bridge to Timbers Avenue. This stretch is <br />