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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOUTBoard minutes 091813Approved 10/16/13 1 MINUTES 2 ORANGE UNIFIED TRANSPORTATION BOARD 3 SEPTEMBER 18, 2013 4 5 MEMBERS PRESENT: Paul Guthrie, Chapel Hill Township; Alex Castro, Bingham Township; Annette Jurgelski, Eno 6 Township; Sam Lasris, Cedar Grove Township; Ted Triebel, Little River Township; Amy Cole, Transit Advocate; Gary 7 Saunders, CFE Representative 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 MEMBERS ABSENT: Jeff Charles, Bicycle Advocate; Jeff Miles, Pedestrian Access & Safety Advocate; Andrea Rohrbacher, Planning Board Representative; Cheeks Township - Vacant; Hillsborough Township - Vacant; Economic Development Commission - Vacant STAFF PRESENT: Abigaile Pittman, Transportation /Land Use Planner; Bret Martin, Transportation Planner OTHERS PRESENT: Dale McKeel, City of Durham /DCHC MPO AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL AGENDA ITEM II: APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR AUGUST 21, 2013 The August 21, 2013 OUTBoard Minutes were approved with corrections by consensus. AGENDA ITEM III: CONSIDERATIONS OF ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA AGENDA ITEM IV: REGULAR AGENDA Discussion with Dale McKeel, Bicycle & Pedestrian Coordinator, Department of Transportation, City of Durham /DCHC MPO regarding: i. Regional bicycle routes, and MPO designation of St. Mary's Road as a regional bicycle route; and ii. Prioritization and funding of bicycle and pedestrian projects under the Strategic Mobility. OUTBoard Action: To receive the information from Dale McKeel and the Orange County Planning Staff and provide feedback. Abigaile Pittman reviewed the background of St Mary's Road as one of the regional bicycle routes depicted on the DCHC MPO 2040 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) Bike Map. Within the county, the Map depicts St. Mary's Road between the US 70 bypass and the Durham County line as a regional bicycle facility. She noted the designation is not consistent with Orange County and Hillsborough's approved bicycle routes. She referred to staff's comment letter and noted the routes shown on Orange County's bicycle map, the approved Orange County Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) and The Town of Hillsborough's Community Connectivity Plan. Abigaile advised the Board that following its discussion with Dale McKeel it is the Board's prerogative to review and comment on the DCHC MPO's designation of St. Mary's Road as a regional bicycle route from Hillsborough to downtown Durham and noted that it is staff's recommendation that the OUTBoard provide input to the DCHC MPO staff consistent with approved Orange County /NCDOT /Town of Hillsborough Bicycle Maps. Dale McKeel provided information on the background and history of the regional bicycle routes. He noted that St. Mary's Road was designated as the best direct connection in a previous plan to connect Hillsborough to Northern Durham and was eventually approved as a regional route. Dale advised that this year the 2040 MTP adopted the Approved 10/16/13 route as part of that plan. He stated Orange County staff is suggesting that during the process of the adoption of the DCHC MPO CTP for the portion of Orange County in their upcoming plan that this could be reviewed for that region, and could be amended to reflect that change. He noted that the New Sharon Church Road route suggested by Orange County staff is about 1/3 longer than the St. Mary's route. Alex Castro referred to the new transportation prioritization on the state level and questioned how it affects recreational bicycling. (redirected to next agenda item) Ted Triebel commented that he frequently bicycles on St. Mary's Road and finds no problem with it. He noted that Guess Road is a problem. Annette Jurgelski noted that she lives on St. Mary's Road and she agrees that it is not a good road for bicyclists. Paul Guthrie expounded that the main concern that Jeff Charles has with St. Mary's Road is the safety issue and the lack of shoulder for improvements and the speed of the drivers on that road. Paul added that the issue is the combination of improvement limitations and the clear and present danger of the speed and number of automobiles. Dale McKeel responded that the first step if bicycle improvements are wanted to St. Mary's Road is to put it in a plan and hopefully the funding will follow. Sam Lasris asked about the rationale during the CTP process for New Sharon Church Road as the preferred regional bicycle route. Paul Guthrie suggested that a motion be made and then discussion can follow. The OUTBoard unanimously approved a motion to designate New Sharon Church Road as the designated route up to Guess Road as it is currently shown on the Orange County Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP). Alex Castro noted a reference to the map that was developed as the community bicycle map designating New Sharon Church Road as the designated route. (Rural Road Safety Coalition Popular Bike Routes). Bret Martin reviewed the prioritization process and changes. Bret clarified points from the last meeting regarding local input, which means the division engineers have to come up with objective, quantifiable scoring criteria for projects in their divisions and that has to be approved by the NCDOT Board of Transportation because that method hasn't been developed yet. He advised that division engineers are left to come up with their own methodology for determining local input points. Bret noted that the question for Dale McKeel is whether our division and region can adopt criteria similar to NCDOT Divisions 1 and 4 so that there is potential for bikeway /shoulder projects that are over 1 million, which used to be modernization projects, to be funded somehow. Bret added that he thinks it is possible for Orange, Alamance, Caswell, Rockingham, and Guilford County to get together and try to adopt new criteria. It is not going to be in place for the development of the current STIP which must be adopted by July 2015. Dale McKeel noted that this year there was only about a 4 or 5 week window to put something in place and noted that hopefully, if it is something the Board would like to pursue, they can make a motion and send it up to the elected officials, then it can be brought to the MPO. The OUTBoard unanimously approved a motion to pursue the quantitative scoring criteria such as what was used by NCDOT Division 1 and 4 that the state uses to score projects in the regional impact and division needs tiers. 105 AGENDA ITEM V: STATE AND MPO PROJECT PRIORITIZATION 106 i. Consider and recommend new projects in the Triangle Area Rural Planning 107 Organization ( TARPO) planning area boundary for the TARPO regional priority 108 list and 2016 -2022 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP); and Approved 10/16/13 109 ii. Consider and recommend new projects in the Durham - Chapel Hill - Carrboro 110 Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO) planning boundary for the 111 2016 -2022 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and the STIP. 112 OUTBoard Action: To provide a recommendation for new projects in the TARPO and 113 DCHC MPO planning areas for the 2016 -2022 STIP. 114 115 Bret Martin followed up on some remaining questions from the last meeting regarding the statewide mobility tier. He 116 elaborated that project funded in the statewide tier will have caps, meaning that no more than 10% of the statewide 117 mobility funds over a five year period can be assigned to a single project or continuous projects in the same corridor 118 in a single division or adjoining divisions. Bret reviewed staff recommendations for new projects in the DCHC MPO 119 and TARPO planning areas. 120 121 Sam Lasris asked about the previous plans for Churton Street and Board members suggested Bret look at the Town 122 of Hillsborough's plans for Churton St. 123 124 OUTBoard discussed how to provide bicycle facilities on Orange Grove Road to provide access to the two schools. 125 126 OUTBoard discussed the ranking priority of the NC 54 versus Hwy 86 projects in importance; no consensus could be 127 obtained. 128 129 Paul Guthrie commented that the project to add bicycle lanes in the area of Old 86 is not a good priority and doesn't 130 fit the plans of the area. 131 132 Consistent with staffs recommendations, the OUTBoard approved the list of transportation projects in the TARPO 133 planning area for BOCC endorsement and approved the list of transportation projects in the DCHC MPO planning 134 area for BOCC endorsement by consensus. 135 136 137 AGENDA ITEM VI: DRAFT ENO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AREA ACCESS MANAGEMENT PLAN. 138 The draft Access Management Plan is available on the Orange County Planning 139 Department Website at: http: / /orangecountync,gov /planning /SpecialProiects,asp 140 OUTBoard Action: This plan has been referred to the OUTBoard by the BOCC for 141 review, with a request that a recommendation be returned to the BOCC in time for its 142 November 19, 2013 regular meeting. The OUTBoard will receive a brief introduction to 143 the Plan at tonight's meeting and will be the focus of the Board's October 16, 2013 144 meeting. 145 146 Abigaile Pittman gave the Board an introduction to the Draft Eno EDD Access Management Plan and noted that it will 147 be on next month's OUTBoard meeting for action. 148 149 Paul Guthrie noted that south part of the designated economic development district is still residential and basically 150 they will eventually be forced out as people buy property and develop them with existing zoning. Paul noted that he 151 thinks the future location for a commuter rail station because there is little justification from Triangle Transit but more 152 importantly it will be competing with a potential junction site where the Chapel Hill branch comes into University 153 Station in terms of the long range commuter rail program. This could weaken Hillsborough's position. 154 155 156 AGENDA ITEM Vil: STAFF UPDATES 157 a. Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) recommendations for new projects in the 158 Burlington- Graham Metropolitan Organization (BGMP) for the 2016 -2022 159 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) 160 b. Master Aging Plan Steering Committee meeting September 18, 2013 161 c. Planning and Public Health: Bridging the Gap event September 25, 2013 162 d. OUTBoard Appointments and Reappointments 163 e. OUTBoard items of discussion for Chuck Edwards, NCDOT District Engineer Approved 10/16/13 164 OUTBoard Action: Receive updates 165 166 Abigaile Pittman updated the Board that the BOCC added a project to the OUTBoard's list for BGMPO which is a 167 realignment of Mattress Factory Road where it intersects with US 70 to the north. 168 169 Alex Castro noted that at the Master Aging Steering Committee meeting there were a lot of transportation objectives 170 and indicators discussed. 171 172 173 AGENDA ITEM VIII: UPCOMING AGENDA ITEMS OF INTEREST ON OTHER REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION RELATED 174 BOARD AGENDAS 175 OUTBoard Action: Receive information as a handout 176 177 178 AGENDA ITEM IX: BOARD COMMENTS 179 OUTBoard Action: Receive comments 180 181 182 AGENDA ITEM X: ADJOURNMENT 183 184 The meeting was adjourned by consensus.