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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda 01-17-23; 12-7 - Information Item - Memorandum - Orange County Transportation Services Annual Update 1 E ORANGE COUNTY GOVERNMENT ORANGE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT 0 COUNTY ,,�,�,. MEMORANDUM TO: Board of County Commissioners FROM: Nishith Trivedi, Transportation Director DATE: January 17, 2023 SUBJECT: Orange County Transportation Services Annual Update This memorandum is an update to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) on Orange County Transportation Services (OCTS) annual update for 2023. BACKGROUND: August 2022, all transportation roles and responsibilities were consolidated into one department, OCTS. The department works with local, regional, state and federal agencies in the addressing all County transportation issues. OCTS will start each year providing the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) with an annual update describing the key activities for the current year, some of the key activities for 2023 include: Orange County Multimodal Transportation Plan OCTS will consolidate all transportation related plan, programs, and policies into a single visionary, comprehensive and fiscally constrained document. This will be done in partnership with local, regional and state agencies. OCTS will provide the local match for the project while Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO) will fund majority of the funding. Orange County will manage the project, select the consultant and present it to BOCC for adoption. Iredell County Transportation Master Plan is an example of such best practice in Transportation. Strategic Prioritization of Transportation (SPOT) 7.0 North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) will start the SPOT process in the spring or summer of 2023. OCTS will complete the County's portion of the process by March or April 2023, and present the Transportation Priority projects to BOCC for their consideration. Approved projects are pursued through the DCHC MPO, Burlington Graham Metropolitan Planning Organization (BG MPO) and Triangle Area Rural Planning Organization (TARPO) respective SPOT processes. A brief presentation of the final State Transportation Improvement Program 2024-2033 will be provided when the item is brought before the BOCC. US 70 Multimodal Corridor Study VHB is starting the public engagement process of the US 70 Multimodal Corridor Study from NC-119 west of Mebane to US 751 west of Durham. A website is being created and key stakeholder interviews are being conducted. First round of public meetings will in spring 2023 followed by second round in the fall. Final plan is tentatively scheduled for completion in the winter. The study is funded by DCHC MPO and managed by Orange County in partnership with Hillsborough, Mebane, NCDOT, DCHC MPO, and BG MPO. 600 Hwy 86 N - Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 Phone (919) 245-2008 - Fax (919) 732-2137 orangecountync.gov/transportation 2 Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP) Update With the adoption of 2022 Orange County's Transit Plan, OCTS began implementing its portion of the plan: Continuation of Existing Services and Mobility-on-Demand. OCTS is also exploring opportunities to: • Consolidate and provide for Go Triangle's ODX and Chapel Hill Transit's (CHT) 420 fixed routes by merging them into OCTS' Orange-Alamance and Orange- Chapel Hill fixed routes respectively so that Go Triangle and CHT can pursue other funded projects in the transit plan; and, • Discussing with Hillsborough staff the possibilities of making Hillsborough a Regional Multimodal Transit Center in conjunction with the town's new train station. While these projects are identified but not funded in the 2022 Orange County Transit Plan, OCTS seeks to update the Short Range Transit Plan to address these and other immediate improvements to the County's transit system. Go Triangle is already updating their SRTP through Nelson/Nygaard's assistance and OCTS staff seeks to do the same. Bus Shelters OCTS is in the process of creating three new bus shelters starting with one on North Campus, Orange County Library, and Fairview Community Center. Staff is working with DCHC MPO to flex fund over to transit for the necessary improvements to the existing bus stops. Staff will follow the same process used in constructing the recently completed bus shelters at Home Depot, Hillsborough Police Station and other locations in Orange County. However, it will be done so without the use of the County's transit tax funds. Please forward any questions, comments or concerns to Orange County Transportation Director Nishith Trivedi at ntrivedi _orangecountync.gov.