HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES-2008-013 Resolutions Regarding Draft 2009–2015 State Transportation Improvement Program~-~-a~-
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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
A RESOLUTION PROVIDING COMMENTS TO THE
NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
REGARDING THE
DRAFT 2009 - 2015 STATE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
DIVISION 7 PROJECTS IN ORANGE COUNTY
WHEREAS, Orange County welcomes the opportunity to participate in development of
the 2009-2015 North Carolina Transportation Improvement Program, and
WHEREAS, Orange County gives priority to identified safety needs in the vicinity of
schools, on existing roads and bridges, to other transportation projects that encourage
alternatives to automobile travel, to projects that minimize adverse impacts on the natural
environment and cultural sites, and to those projects that foster economic development in the
designated Economic Development Districts; and
WHEREAS, Orange County has submitted a Priority List of transportation projects for
inclusion in the 2009 - 2015 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP); and
WHEREAS, the North Carolina Department of Transportation has released the Draft
2009 - 2015 STIP for public comment; and
WHEREAS, Orange County, as a member of the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro
(DCHC) Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has submitted comments to the
Transportation Advisory Committee of the DCHC MPO regarding transportation projects
within the Metropolitan Area Boundary, which are attached to this resolution; and
WHEREAS, the North Carolina Board of Transportation is the sole approving authority
for the S~"IP for areas of the State outside Metropolitan Area Boundaries; and
WHEREAS, a large portion of Orange County lies outside the DCHC MPO MAB;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Orange County Board of
Commissioners that Orange County submits the following comments regarding transportation
projects in areas of the County outside the DCHC MPO MAB, as submitted in the attached
recommendation of the Orange County Unified Transportation Board, for consideration by the
North Carolina Department of Transportation in development of the 2009- 2015 State
Transportation Improvement Program:
1. Orange County is concerned that cuts in appropriated federal transportation funds to
North Carolina coupled with the rapid increase in construction costs have reduced funding
sources for bicycle and pedestrian projects in order to prevent further delay of highway
projects. Orange County supports greater funding for alternative modes for
Attachment 1 4
transportation, particularly for independent bicycle projects and improvements that make
bicycling safer on County roads.
2. Orange County requests that the NCDOT Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian
Transportation consider funding an independent bicycle project to construct 4-ft. paved
shoulders along Dairyland Road to accommodate bicycle traffic from Union Grove Church
Road (SR 1111) to Orange Grove Road (SR 1006). This area experiences high levels of
bicycle traffic from Carrboro and Chapel Hill to rural routes. This route is a portion of the
number 3 priority listed in Orange County's Priority List for the 2009-2015 TIP for projects
outside the MAB. The entire project would connect the urbanized areas of Carrboro and
Chapel Hill to Efland and Mebane via Dairyland Road, Orange Grove Road, and
Buckhorn Road. The portion from Union Grove Church Road to Orange Grove Road is
part of a loop that, along with Old NC 86, has been designated as a North Carolina Scenic
Corridor. NCDOT, through the Moving Ahead Program and the Resurfacing Program has
included provisions for 2-ft. paved shoulders on Orange Grove Road that will improve
conditions for bicyclists on that road. (Moving Ahead provided 2-ft. paved shoulders on
SR 1006 from Old NC 86 to SR 1199, Tree Farm Rd.; 2008 Resurfacing Program will
provide 2-ft. shoulders along SR 1006 from SR 1199 to SR 1102, Dodson's Crossroads
and resurtace and provide 2-ft. paved shoulders on SR 1006 from Dodson's Crossroads
to SR 1177, Dairyland Road.)
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Orange County, while acknowledging that cuts in
appropriated federal transportation funds to North Carolina coupled with the rapid increase in
construction costs make it unlikely that the NCDOT can add new projects to the STIP in this
update, the County requests that the NCDOT consider all funding possibilities for priority
needs identified in the Orange County Priority List for the 2009-2015 Transportation
Improvement Program.
Upon motion of Commissioner _
this the
and seconded by Commissioner
the foregoing resolution was adopted
_ day of , 2008.
I, Donna Baker, Clerk to the Board of Commissioners for the County of Orange, North .
Carolina, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing is a true copy of so much of the
proceedings of said Board at a meeting held on February 5, 2008, as relates in any way to
the adoption of the foregoing and that said proceedings are recorded in the minutes of said
Board.
WITNESS my hand and the seal of said County, this day of , 2008.
Clerk to the Board of Commissioners