HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES-2003-002 Resolution Regarding New Hope Creek Bridge Trails and Natural Areai~~S ' PZOD3- 00 2 ~-~2•-~003
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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF ADEQUATE BRIDGE LENGTH AND
VERTICAL CLEARANCE FOR
US 15/501 CROSSING OF NEW HOPE CREEK
WHEREAS, the State of North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)
in TIP Project U-4012 plans to expand US 15/501 to six lanes between Mt.
Moriah Road and Garrett Road and such expansion will require removing and
rebuilding the bridge across New Hope Creek in this area; and
WHEREAS, the State of North Carolina Department of Transportation has
issued an Environmental Assessment dated July 7, 2002 in which the
recommended bridge alternative has a height of 8 feet, a length of 205 feet and a
width of 122 feet; and
WHEREAS, Orange County has adopted the New Hope Creek Corridor
Preservation Plan and such plans anticipate the portion of the New Hope Creek
corridor crossed by the bridge will provide both recreation trail and wildlife
corridor amenities; and
WHEREAS, the New Hope Creek Corridor is recognized as providing a
regionally significant wildlife corridor in the Piedmont by the State of North
Carolina's Natural Heritage Program; and
WHEREAS, the NCDOT-recommended alternative combination of bridge length,
height and width provides a wildlife crossing that is less protective than
other bridges NCDOT has under construction in the New Hope Creek
watershed and provides less wildlife protection than that called for in the most
recent scientific literature; and
WHEREAS, the NCDOT-recommended alternative is less protective than that
recommended by the State of North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission,
the City of Durham, Durham County, the Town of Chapel Hill, the New Hope
Creek Corridor Advisory Committee, the Durham Chapel Hill Carrboro
Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Advisory Committee and
others (the Durham Open Space and Trails~Commission and the New Hope
Audubon Society); and
WHEREAS, the NCDOT-recommended alternative bridge height is below that of
the existing bridge, is below the recommended height for trail crossings
in the Federal Highway Administration Enhancement Program as well as the
standards of the American. $aciety of Transportation Officials, is below the height
of NCDOT's I-40 crossing of New Hope Creek that is presently under
construction, is below the height recommended by the organizations mentioned
in the previous paragraph, will impair trail maintenance activities, will preclude
use of the trail for equestrian activities in the future; and
WHEREAS, the public and private investments to protect the New Hope Creek
Corridor have exceeded $4.5 Million; and
WHEREAS, an increase of bridge length of 100 feet could protect public and
private preservation investments of over three times the additional construction
cost of a longer bridge; and
WHEREAS, the original bridge construction over New Hope Creek used large
amounts of fill across the New Hope.Creek floodplain which impacts the natural
hydrologic and wildlife functions of the corridor; and
WHEREAS, the NCDOT Environmental Assessment does not consider the
potential ecological and recreation advantages that could accrue were the new
bridge to be constructed to remediate these. extensive and previous
environmental impacts; and
WHEREAS, the NCDOT Draft Transportation Improvements Budget (TIP) for
2004-2010 budgets $7,325,000 for this construction project, while current
NCDOT construction estimates total only $6,850,000 for the project; and
WHEREAS, there presently exists an estimated $475,000 in the TIP project
budget which could fund approximately one-half of the requested additional
bridge length without impacting the project budget; and
WHEREAS, the NCDOT proposes to cross one of the most important natural
corridor in the Triangle with a bridge that limits the New Hope Creek corridor's
trail options and threatens the public and private investments made to establish a
wildlife corridor in cooperation with City of Durham, Durham County and the
Town of Chapel Hill;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD
OF COMMISSIONERS requests the North Carolina Department of
Transportation revise the Environmental Assessment to give due consideration of
alternatives that provide better remediation of past environmental degradation
along Newt-lope Creek; are more protective of Orange County's plans for use of
the New Hope Creek Corridor, more protective of the public and private
investments made to protect the corridor and more attentive to the environmental
improvements associated with a longer bridge length;
FURTHERMORE, the Board of Commissioners expresses its support for bridge
alternatives with lengths longer than the NCDOT-preferred alternative that would
be more cost-effective, protect previous public investments in the corridor,
provide more environmental protection for wildlife, and permit trail uses that are
flexible and diverse; in particular, expresses support for a bridge that is at least
10 feet high and 300 feet long as well as 122 feet wide;
AND FURTHERMORE, the Board of Commissioners requests that the Orange
County representatives to the Transportation Advisory Committee convey to the
Department of Transportation the above concerns and preferences about the
NCDOT-preferred alternative and the associated Environmental Assessment.
This the 21st day of January, 2003.
MARGARET W. BROWN, CHA/R ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ALICE M. GORDON, V/CE CHA/R POST OFFICE BOX 8 1 8 1
MOSES CAREY, JR.
SrEaa/E/dH. HALK/OT/S 200 SOUTH CAMERON STREET
BARRY JACOBS
HILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA 27278
CLERK' S
CERTIFICATION
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I, Donna S. .Baker, County Clerk of the County of Orange, North
Carolina, do hereby certify that the attached is a true and
correct copy of the resolution entitled "A Resolution. In Support
of Adequate .Bridge Length and Vertical Clearance for US 15/501
Crossing of New Hope Creek" as approved by the Orange County Board
of Commissioners on January 21, 2003.
This the 22nd day of January, 2003.
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Donna S. Baker
County Clerk
WWW.CO.ORANGE. NC. US
PROTECT/NG AND PRESERV/NG - PEOPLES RESOURCES QUAL/TY OF L/FE
ORANGE COUNTY, NORTH CAROL/NA - YOU COUNT!
(919) 245-2130 • FAX (919) 644-0246