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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.18.2024 OUTboard ORANGE TRANSPORTATION COUNTY GOVERNMENT TRANSPORTATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT COUNTY NoKaL CALIQLLNA PUBLIC TRANSIT OrangeCounty AGENDA ORANGE UNIFIED TRANSPORTATION BOARD Whitted Building 300 West Tryon Street, Hillsborough, NC 27278 OUTBoard meetings are held in person and open to the public. Any member of the general public who wishes to make public comment should email dweaver@orangecountync.gov and the comment will be read to the OUTBoard during the public comment portion of the meeting. 1. Call to Order 2. Consideration of Additions or Changes to Agenda 3. Public Comments 4. Minutes— March 25 Subcommittee on US 70 and June 17, 2024 5. Regular OUTBoard Agenda a. 2024 Annual Report and Work Program i. Action: Recommend approval b. 2019 Efland-Buckhorn-Mebane Access Management Plan Update i. Action: Approve Scope of Work c. 2055 Metropolitan Transportation Plan Update i. Action: Provide comments d. RAISE Grant i. Action: Recommend approval for FY25 and FY26 6. Staff Report/Updates a. MPO, RPO, and NCDOT b. County Bike/Pedestrian Plan c. Coordinated Human Service Plan 7. Adjournment-The next meeting—August 19th , 2024 It is the policy of Orange County Transportation Services to ensure that no person shall, on the ground of race, color, sex, age, national origin, or disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987. 600 Hwy 86 N - Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 Phone (919)245-2008 - Fax (919) 732-2137 orangecountync.gov/transportation ORANGE UNIFIED TRANSPORTATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES Monday June 17th, 2023, 6:30 pm 131 W. Margaret Lane, Hillsborough, NC 27278 1 Attendance: Members Present 2 3 Jamie Crandell Eno Township 4 Natalie Ziemba Cedar Grove Township 5 Darlene Weaver Transportation Planning Manager 6 Roy Schonberg Chapel Hill Township 7 Erik Legg Cheeks Township 8 Adam McGovern At Large 9 Michael Hughes At Large 10 Joshua Mayo At Large 11 Amy Cole At Large 12 Sherry Appel At Large 13 Randy Marshall Bringham Township 14 Art Menius Little River Township 15 Todd Jones At Large 16 Gregory Woloszczuk- Chapel Hill Township 17 18 AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER 19 The meeting was called to order and the roll was taken. 20 21 AGENDA ITEM 2: CONSIDERATIONS OF ADDITIONS TO AGENDA. 22 Art has two motions; one is the attendance of the Transportation Director, and the other is the agenda. Art 23 motioned that printed copies of the agenda be mailed to anyone who requested one week prior. Sherry 24 asked a question about mailing out 10 days, Art explained that 7 days was sufficient. 25 26 Motion: Art Menius Second: Randy Marshall Vote: Unanimous 27 28 Art opened the discussion about the awkwardness of meeting without the Transportation Director and 29 how to avoid this happening in the future. The point was made by several of the Transportation Directors 30 not informing the OUTboard about his vacation. Several members explained in the past the Director 31 would inform and cancel the meeting. The Chair explained that after reviewing the content of the 32 presentations, he thought it was too much to talk about than there would be time and wasn't 33 comfortable. It was mentioned that they would like WSP to provide the briefing on the Transportation 34 Multimodal Plan, but Darlene could not give a date. Sherry wanted to know what the policy on cancellation 35 of the meeting was. Darlene explained for the June agenda that we didn't have the SPOT results or all 36 the required information for the Transportation Multimodal Plan. Art mentioned that decisions about 37 meetings should be made in coordination with the Chair and Vice Chair and in the past that is how all 38 decisions were made. It decided to table the Transportation Multimodal Plan until the consultants could 39 be at the meeting. Josh made a motion to table the Non-STIP for July. 40 41 Motion: Art Menius Second: Joshua Mayo Vote: Unanimous 42 43 AGENDA ITEM 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS. 44 None. 45 46 AGENDA ITEM 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 47 Corrections: Art suggested correcting line (35) should read merge minutes, Micheal was not in 48 attendance, so add Art's name to attendance, and no second for the motion to approve the last April 49 minutes. Art suggests the correction of lines (92) and (169) it should read Highway 70 W and suggests 50 removing the statement. Sherry questioned why all the US 70 recommendations and amendments were 51 not referenced. Randy suggests a correction for Bing Township to Bringham Township, correcting the 52 spelling of Michael's name. Make corrections for the minutes and include the US 70 minutes before 53 approval. 54 55 Motion: Randy Marshall Second: Art Menius Vote: Unanimous 56 57 AGENDA ITEM 5. OUTBoard Agenda 58 59 5.b. SPOT 7 Local Input points 60 61 D. Weaver presented the overview, process, and results from the SPOT 7 process by explaining each 62 level of the process. Explained that in September we will start talking about Division projects. 63 64 S. Appel asked for copies of the presentation maps. They are in the report and copies could be provided 65 and inform the OUTboard that scores could be slightly adjusted, released in June through August at the 66 Regional level. 67 68 J. Mayo provided feedback on the fund's process of funding at all three levels and projects must score 69 at least 45 points to be competitive. 70 71 S. Appel: From what year does the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) use its 72 data? They use the data from the submission, spreadsheet, and historical information, and they collect 73 data every two years. Are projects limited by the number of dollars? Projects are limited by numbers; the 74 organization gets points based on the population. 75 76 R. Marshall: Questions about the points? D. Weaver and J. Mayo explained the points are distributed by 77 population and each Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and Rural Planning Organization (RPO) 78 has several counties they represent and not just Orange County. The funnel on the slides represents all 79 three counties. 80 81 S. Appel: When are allowed to make suggestions about prioritization? The Central Pines Rural Planning 82 Organization (CPRPO), Burlingham Graham (BG), and Durham- Chapel Hill- Carrboro (DCHC) MPO 83 have regular meetings with the different countries to discuss the priorities, but everything is based on the 84 score. 85 86 S. Appel: Are there any non-MPO representatives on the board and not elected officials over the towns? 87 It was explained that we have BOCC members who are representatives on each of the MPO and RPO 88 boards. 89 90 R. Marshall: Made statement Congresswoman Alice Gordon was on the Board of County Commissioners 91 and a representative for the MPO board and had a wealth of Knowledge. She attended the OUTboard 92 meeting regularly, since we have lost access to Congresswoman Gordan we no longer have access to 93 that information and our voices are not heard. 94 95 M. Hughes and S. Appel: Asked for the names of the Board of Commissioners names that were set on 96 the board. The Orange County Transportation Planning Manager agreed to provide the OUTboard 97 members with the name of each commissioner who represents each board. 98 99 The OUTboard members would like Jamezetta Bedford to attend the OUTBoard meetings occasionally. 100 There was a motion to invite Jamezetta Bedford to attend the OUTBoard meetings. 101 102 S.Appel suggested we have Commissioner Bedford attend the meeting for specific items on the agenda, 103 i.e. the SPOT 7 decisions. 104 105 A. Cole stated that Alice Borden would attend as the Liaison, but there was no item on the agenda for 106 her. 107 108 M. Hughes volunteered to write the invitation to Jamezetta Bedford. 109 110 Motion: Amy Cole Second: Roy Schonberg Vote: Unanimous 111 112 S. Appel: I know what NCDOT scoring is based on, what is Orange County's scoring based on? We 113 currently have consultants completing our Transportation Multimodal Plan, this will allow us to work with 114 the MPOs, and RPO and create Orange County's score method. 115 116 J. Crandell: For the Regional and Division scores can we combine them? If the project is large enough it 117 can be supported at both Regional and Division, so if the doesn't qualify for regional it can still be funded 118 at the division. 119 120 R. Marshall: Says if we can just refine modernization, we don't need sidewalks and grass berm if they 121 would just give us 11-foot lanes and 5-foot bike lanes for 2-foot gutters. That would be way down the road 122 and probably a lot less expensive than having sidewalks on those roads. It was explained that price plays 123 a role but was not a major factor in scoring for SPOT 7. 124 125 M. Hughes suggested we bring SPOT 7 back to the July meeting, so everyone could have time to look 126 over the information and provide their recommendations and suggestions. 127 128 S.Appel:Ask what projects are we recommending? DCHC MPO has them amount of points to fully fund 129 and support 23 projects, we can put projects in the portal that we think should get points out of those 23 130 projects. However, not all the projects will make it past the regional level. 131 132 Suggestion to postpone recommendation for SPOT 7 until the July meeting 133 134 Motion: Art Menius Second: Randy Marshall Vote: Unanimous 135 136 AGENDA ITEM 8: ADJOURNMENT 137 The OUTBoard meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for July 18th, 2024 OUTBoard Subcommittee—US 70 Question and Answer Session Monday, March 25, 2024,4:00 p.m. 606 NC 86, Hillsborough, NC 27278 1 Attendance: Members Present 2 3 Gregory Woloszczuk- Chapel Hill Township 4 Art Menius Little River Township 5 Michael Hughes At Large 6 Amy Cole At Large 7 Natalie Ziemba Cedar Grove Township 8 Sherry Appel At Large 9 Erik Legg Cheeks Township 10 Lauren Triebert, VHB 11 Darlene Weaver Transportation Planning Manager 12 Nishith Trivedi, Transportation Director 13 14 Introduction to Meeting Purpose 15 N. Trivedi: re-explained the planning process, plan importance, public engagement, reviewed OUTBoard 16 concerns, focused the meeting on solutions and best path forward. Consultant was introduced and the 17 floor is opened for discussion. 18 19 M. Hughes: I was unable to attend the meeting, so I'm going to go on mute, but paying close attention. 20 21 L. Triebert: Presented how they addressed some of the concerns and encouraged dialogue for the rest. 22 Anything unanswered at meeting will be addressed of the next formal OUTBoard meeting. 23 24 A. Cole: First of all, I just wanted to thank all of you. You put together an extremely thorough report. The 25 area that I was thinking about when I was reading the report as I took a look at what the goals and 26 objectives are, I think that that's spot on for what I would want as a member of this Community to see 27 that if that's how we're planning for, for growth in our city, in our town, in our county, that's what I want to 28 be able to see when I read how we would meet those goals and objectives. I think there's a misalignment 29 for me and some of those and so overarching what I think I'm not understanding is what the highest-level 30 goal for the 70 corridor is. Is it that we're trying to move more traffic through that space, or are we trying 31 to make it into a place where we're calming traffic measures and trying to create more of a feel of what 32 that looks like in a community setting? I'm looking at them and that sounds great, and I would promote 33 that. But then if I look at what is implemented that might conflict with that.And so I don't want to promote 34 something where people get an image of what we're saying is the goal and objective, but the actual 35 output doesn't align with that 36 37 L.Triebert: So, I can give a little bit of insight into that.And then if folks want to add on or take the question 38 further, we can, but I think what you are referencing is the two-lane to the four-lane widening. 39 40 A. Cole: Yeah, but I wouldn't say it's just about two to four. It's about, you know, we talk about preserving 41 nature, then you know the natural landscape and we talk about, you know, just some of those ideas of 42 what that looks like to me. And conflicting how are we addressing the fact that that current corridor is 43 lined with trees, and it's lined with a lot of other natural landscape. And then by expanding that when we 44 are taking that down, so how do we say we're kind of that's our goal and objective, but we're tearing down 45 the landscape to do that. 46 47 L. Triebert: So I think just first and foremost the idea just to address the two to four lanes because I want 48 to make it clear that's not a recommendation of the study to go from two to four, and we did a lot of 49 vehicular traffic investigation at the beginning of this project that indicated that the widening is an 50 impending situation and, at some point will be called for based on the projected growth. And we used the 51 regional model statewide model to verify that. And So, what we were kind of faced with was, OK, if we 52 know ultimately this two-lane roadway that is you know that that was points for it feels very rural or when 53 it goes through you know a more populated area seems like the potential for great like maybe downtown 54 placemaking type feel like in Mebane. We were trying to figure out how to balance the need to move 55 traffic with providing for multimodal users whether that's transit amenities or PEDs and bikes. So, the 56 idea that we, you know, our quote, tearing down landscape, I think that's going to come from what 57 happens as frontages along US 70 are redeveloped, whether that's private development and those 58 developers are held to certain standards or whether that what goes into the complete street typical section 59 that would ultimately be implemented most likely by an NC DOT widening project. 60 61 N. Trivedi: Laura, can I ask you a quick follow-up question to the issue of widening and landscaping? 62 Hillsborough has its landscaping plan for that whitening that landscaping to know he'll widening 70 is also 63 planning how the landscaping is preserved. This is in their connectivity plan. This is also in their 64 sustainability plan that fed into this US 70 Study. 65 66 L. Triebert: Right. That's my understanding. 67 68 N. Trivedi: This is how the land is preserved through landscaping or other improvements that would be 69 covered by complete streets or potentially be covered by complete streets and the landscaping would be 70 done by the developer, making their development improvements to accommodate and ensure 71 landscaping as the areas being as the road corridor evolves. 72 73 L. Triebert: Right, as it's growing. Yes, that's my understanding.Art, is that you? 74 75 N. Trivedi: Art, Sherry, and then Greg. 76 77 A. Menius: yeah, the expansion from two to four lanes seemed inconsistent with most of the rest of the 78 goals of the project seemed an outlier compared to slowing traffic, making it more friendly for pedestrians 79 and bicyclists. And you know the many goals I agree with that appear in this plan, which is the vast 80 majority. Getting traffic on the highway to 85 or 40 is mentioned in the important sections about improving 81 the connectivity between the 70 corridor and the interstates, which is absolutely correct. And there's and 82 the suggestions there are very good, but to me it seems like a lot of these goals and important step in 83 that is moving all the traffic they can get moved over to the interstates and 70 not be a first choice and 84 someone except for short commutes within the area to make our goal to move every vehicle over to the 85 Interstate, we can move over to the Interstate and Off of 70. 86 87 L. Triebert: The models that we use to project future roadway traffic, trucks and vehicles, not PEDs and 88 bikes, that's based on the current adopted statewide model, what that includes is a widened 40 and 85. 89 It includes all fiscally constrained projects in the comprehensive transportation plans, and looking at 2050, 90 the model puts the traffic on the path of least resistance from its origin to its destination and gives us the 91 amount of traffic that is expected to be on US 70 in the future year, and that accounts for all the traffic 92 moving to 40 and 85 based on the available capacity within the network that was modeled. And so, what 93 we see when that happens (speaker shared her screen) this service table (11) that we have for the 94 corridor and assuming a two-lane highway, even with the 40 and 85 widening and the improvement of 95 Church Street and improvements in the long-range plans, we're still seeing levels of level service of E 96 and F, which is just like a report card. Those are failing levels of service. That's why I wanted to make it 97 clear that's not a recommendation of the study. We're assuming that that is eventually going to be a base 98 condition because we can tell from the traffic projections that it's going to be warranted in the future and, 99 we did a lot of data analysis and collection and verification early in the process to make sure that we had 100 good estimates for those. 101 N. Trivedi: Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're verifying that when you did this analysis you considered 102 two models-the adopted triangle regional model and the statewide model, and both models say in 2050, 103 even with the 85 and 40 widening, even when the traffic moves onto 1-85 and 1-40, traffic on 70 is still 104 going to require the need for widening 70. 105 106 L. Triebert: Correct. 107 108 N. Trivedi: And this model is updated every four years, and the State's is updated every three years 109 because of the tip. 110 111 L. Triebert: yes, it is. 112 113 N. Trivedi: OK, so I think I think what we need to, I think it would help if we can present and show this 114 that even with the improvements in the future, the future horizon of this stuff, even with the widening of 115 80 widening of 40 traffic on local roads, the regional roads are still going to need widening. So, the report 116 card of E or F is critical in explaining why, even after all this, in the future, the 70 lane expansion needs 117 to happen. So, the data part of their scope of work is short-term, midterm, and long-term improvements 118 in different alternatives, but to no build, you're still going to have problems with 70 in the future. 119 120 A. Menius: Do you have data to support the assumed need or demand in a couple of areas for low income 121 people to find non-automotive transportation to potential work along the corridor, and the other for the 122 need or demand for non-automotive transportation to parks? 123 124 L. Triebert: So just to make sure I got the question right, do we have data to support that those 125 communities exist, or that they would have the demand for the types of recommendations we're making? 126 127 A. Menius:They have the demand that they would use those non-automotive assets if they were available 128 to them to go either to work or to recreation at the parks. 129 130 L. Triebert: That is not a straightforward answer. I think it's one of these if they currently don't have auto 131 access to a personal automobile and they're getting by with whatever transit usage they can find the idea 132 that if there was another alternative available such as a better sidewalk system or a better transit 133 operational system for forgetting to and from those places, I don't have like a model that says that they 134 would use that, that that, that demand would come, but, I would think it would follow that if the 135 infrastructure was there, it would get used, assuming the absence of personal vehicles is still base issue. 136 137 A. Menius: It's totally logical. It makes a completely sensible assumption; I just don't know that it's how 138 the real world is actually going to play out. 139 140 N. Trivedi: At the April meeting, we have another consultant, Nelson Nygaard, who's doing a short-range 141 transit plan which includes some of this analysis, called the Transit Density Index, that talks about how 142 Northern Orange County and areas around Hillsborough using environmental justice and transit density, 143 and addresses alternative modes along this corridor. In this study we are talking about today they also 144 recommended in this study that the U.S. 70 be a transit Infosys corridor because of currently slated transit 145 improvements. If those are implemented in these local areas within Hillsborough, Mebane, and so forth 146 they would use these alternative modes of transportation. 147 148 L. Triebert: 149 And that's where some of the more nitty gritty specific transit recommendations, like pairing the 150 bidirectional bus stops, is where we got down into the detail of things like that to make it so that it is a full 151 and complete system that is usable from point A to point B and back to point A, as opposed to some 152 situations now where maybe you can get on a bus in the direction you want to go. But then when you try 153 to come home, you don't get dropped off in the same place. We also looked at extensions or expansions 154 of service routes that would hit communities that if they had more proximity to the access, if it was closer 155 to their front door, that could encourage more use as well. So, I do see where you're coming from, and 156 maybe Nish, it's good to hear that Nelson Nygaard doing that density plan, and I think that may help 157 support and answer what Art is asking for. 158 159 N. Trivedi: Sherry's next. 160 161 S. Appel: But yeah, thank you for doing this and for all the other Members who are on this call, I have 162 several questions. You showed us the level of service, what is the time of day for those?Are we building 163 for the peak? 164 165 L. Triebert: They are peak hour analysis, so we do take a look if it's intersection specific, it's going to be 166 generally between your 6:00 AM and 8:00 AM peak. And then your 4:00 PM four and 6:00 PM peak and 167 so to answer your question, yes, they're peak hour analysis. We do have some daily numbers that are 168 more from the model that we could dig further into. Or, you know, there could be an opportunity to look 169 at just other hours of the day. I'd have to go back and see what kind of available data we have for that. 170 That may be able to allay some of those concerns. 171 172 S. Appel: Well, the other part of it is, when would the counts done? I mean, we've just come through two 173 years where there was very little traffic. Well, there was traffic, but it wasn't necessarily normal volume. 174 And then you have now. And section 4.6.2 is the crash data and its narrative in there and it does not 175 reflect over what period where those incidents were, and there's not, you know, it didn't seem like there 176 was data. And I know one of your recommendations is to lower the speed limit to 35, which I'm a little 177 concerned about because sometimes lowering the speed limit on a road like that could potentially cause 178 more accidents as people used to driving that road at high speeds become frustrated, then try to pass 179 against the line and so on. 180 181 L. Triebert: So, the existing conditions report went a lot deeper into the crash analysis and you know it 182 was taken over a 5-year period. But let me get back to traffic counts those were originated with 2019 183 data. We also, though, used streetlight data which is more current and uses basically cell phone 184 technology to help tell where cars are, to help calibrate a "base year current year" which I believe was 185 2023, and then we projected out to 2050. So that's kind of the background of the traffic analysis years 186 and when the data came from and 187 188 N. Trivedi: And the projection is using the state-approved projection rate. 189 190 L. Triebert: Yeah, it's using the model. 191 192 N. Trivedi: Yeah, it's using the adopted model that both the status adopted, and the triangle original 193 model is that also adopted in the MTP. So, it's approved methodology that's being used. 194 195 S. Appel: And when was the model adopted? 196 197 N. Trivedi: And when the 2045 MTP was done, the 2050 MP was done. Yeah, I'll have to get you the 198 exact date. 199 200 L. Triebert: There was a model that was approved, I think in early 2023. 201 202 J. Hamilton: It was most recently updated in October. 203 204 L. Triebert: October of 2023, right? Yeah. 205 206 S. Appel: Thank you. I'm going to keep moving because I don't. 207 208 L. Triebert: I just want to make sure I've got these questions down right. So, about the crash data showing 209 the length of time. Section 4.6.2. is specific to large vehicle crashes, there's also a section on PIED bike 210 crashes, and then at the intro, there's just an overview of crashes in general and which I've got. Do you 211 want as we're coming up on time, do we want to go through and get lists of questions or do you want me 212 to keep talking out responses? 213 214 N. Trivedi: Well, you could understand the need for the crash data and to review the crash that I guess 1 215 presentation that can be one point that can be shown at the April meeting is the existing conditions 216 analysis of the crash data and the recommendations in the issues that the crash data because you're the 217 existing conditions report the analysis of all this crash and traffic and all that stuff was done with a little 218 over a year ago. 219 220 S. Appel: And let me let me let me just throw this out really quick because of your time issue. You say 221 that this report does not include a recommendation to widen the 70 from 2 to 4 lanes. Instead, it assumes 222 that there will be a widening of 70 from 2 to 4 lanes, and based on that assumption, this plan. And when 223 that happens, the NCDOT can use this plan to guide its widening process. Is that correct? 224 225 L. Triebert: Yes. And the multimodal accommodations that would be included with that typical section, 226 such as- 227 228 N. Trivedi: Yeah, the multimodal accommodations cannot be included if it's not included in the study. If 229 you had done the study with just the widening itself, the DOT would use it as leverage to not do any bike- 230 ped accommodations. Because the focus is non-highway, the outcome is the widening because it gives 231 us leverage to DOT to say to them if you do widen this road, we want you to add bike-ped and transit as 232 you do the widening because of complete streets. 233 234 S. Appel: I just want to get this clear. So, Nish, if that is the case, does that also mean that the 235 recommendations, or if there are recommendations on providing some protection of the environmental 236 issues would also be that NCDOT would have to go by that - 237 238 N. Trivedi: Yes, because they would do it through the NEPA, which would be the first step that is required. 239 240 S. Appel: The other thing I just want to comment on it is the electric vehicles. According to the federal 241 government, we are going to try to have majority of electric vehicles in 2050. Is there any combination or 242 reference or will that affect any of the recommendations in this plan?And then I will just turn my mic off. 243 Thank you very much. 244 245 L. Triebert: Or I just I think the quick answer to that is from just kind of an off-the-cuff here in terms of 246 plans for sustainability or infrastructure to the locality. As far as the recommendations of this project, an 247 EV is going to function just like a gas vehicle as far as its presence on the road. And so, I think the 248 sidewalks, the mixed-use pads, and things like that would stay the same from a recommendation 249 standpoint. 250 251 N. Trivedi:And Sherry,just to confirm, we will be working as this plan is approved, if this plan is approved 252 and adopted, we will be using this in coordination with the County's Climate Action Plan, the County 253 Strategic Plan, and the new Land Use 2050 plan that is also going in the process. So, this would give us 254 more leverage in ensuring that there's consistency with other plans and documents that are adopted by 255 the county that the climate action plan would be adopted. It was adopted recently, and it will be updated 256 every two to four years, so be ensuring that is implemented through this process. Then use the short- 257 range transit plan to further recommend improvements. 258 259 S. Appel: Is there a way that we can put in the opening statement something about the fact that we are 260 that we hope, or we urge the DOT to use this as a guidance document? Can we say that explicitly? 261 262 N. Trivedi: Yeah, absolutely. 263 264 L. Triebert: Yeah, we can do that. 265 266 N. Trivedi: And you can also extend this to ensuring consistency with the County's Climate Action Plan 267 and other adopted policies. 268 269 L. Triebert:And, you know from the point of view of NCDOT, but when they go into starting a project such 270 as a widening of US 70 in the future, a review of previous plans like this is done, and is included in part 271 of the, the NEPA documentation. And that's where, if plans like these are "on the books", that's when 272 complete streets policy from DOT starts to kick in as far as them being required to build it and pay for it. 273 Now, as opposed to previously, where they might have had to build it, the cost share might have been 274 different between DOT and the communities. 275 276 N. Trivedi: And this is this comes from the experience we had with Chapel Hill. The 15-501 corridor was 277 recently completed last year and included the New Hope area between Durham and Chapel Hill. Well, 278 the study was completed but it was not adopted and because it was not approved NCDOT went ahead 279 and redesigned the interchange and the improvements and now Chapel Hill later came back and said, 280 oh, we had had the study done and DOT came back and said you didn't approve it. So, you cannot use 281 the study that was not approved as oh we changed our mind. It has to be adopted to be able to be used 282 as leverage, otherwise, DOT will say not it's on the books and we don't recognize it. 283 284 L. Triebert: But I think adding specific wording Sherry to just state that this is a guidance document for 285 the future widening of US 70 is a good add for sure. 286 287 N. Trivedi: The next one is Greg. 288 289 G. Woloszczuk: Excellent. Appreciate and thanks for coming. So, it sounds like we'll have a follow-up in 290 the April meeting. This is really to help kind of prep for those questions. 291 292 L. Triebert: Correct. 293 294 G. Woloszczuk: So, I'll just give my questions. I don't need any answers today, but I think back to the 295 earlier part when it kicked off the meeting for me. What would help is almost like an elevator pitch. We 296 had the four core goals that we wanted to achieve. How can we speak to that with a little bit of data? 297 Because if we say we're going to improve traffic, but then we're going to lower speed limits, how do we 298 quantify that? Because this is going to be very expensive. So how do we say well, by doing this, this is 299 what we see, and by how much? I'm a data person, so when we invest in stuff, I want to know how we 300 see the return on that investment. And we're not back in four or five years saying, oops, yeah, we said 301 we are making it faster, and we slow down the roads instead. I'm not concerned about whether we widen 302 the four lanes or not. It's probably needed, but I would like to see when we talk about slowing down, the 303 same thing with the access into some of the parkways, and the greenways. If we have to go back out 304 and talk to our fellow neighbors, how would we finish this and say, well, we said we're going to improve 305 the traffic flow and say, oh, that's nice. Everybody always says that. How do we explain that?And I don't 306 want to go into the deep, deep details because I trust you all as professionals have done the studies, but 307 just the way that we can talk to it and understand it, right, that's really my comment. 308 309 L. Triebert: Yeah, I think some just not going deep into it, but just off the top of my head, it's just some 310 sort of travel time comparison from point A to point B is maybe something that we could do. You know, if 311 you're not queueing at a single lane stop light for as long, then even if you're limited to 35 miles an hour, 312 you're not stopped in a single location. We can see about incorporating that kind of thing. 313 314 G. Woloszczuk: Exactly. I think that would help. And then how we incorporate, I think somebody else 315 mentioned it like how we're incorporating some of the multimodal transport, make sure there's adoption. 316 What I'm always concerned about, there's a lot of build it and they will come and there's a lot of stuff we 317 built and no one's using it. So just a little bit, how would we see that? Do we have other communities 318 nearby that we've seen have similar success in the improvements because there's, like I said, this is a 319 big budget, I think that's going to be asked. I just want to make sure I feel comfortable saying that yeah, 320 this makes sense, and we are going to hit the goals that we said we would hit. 321 322 L. Triebert: It looks like Michael is up. 323 324 M. Hughes: Thank you very much. Hey Lauren, I've appreciated the way you're handling all of this, 325 particularly that last comment you made concerning Gregg's suggestion, with your time of travel idea, 326 you showed an, excuse me, if you talked about this and I missed it. Or you showed the 2050 level services 327 E and Fs. What does the current level of service look like? 328 329 L. Triebert: Yes, I can show you that too (sharing screen). I'm referencing back to our existing conditions 330 report. So, this is figure 21 in that report showing that currently in the Mebane area, we're operating at a 331 level service D. We're essentially A through C until we get down closer to the Durham line. Yeah, this is 332 the corridor level of service today. 333 334 N. Trivedi: That's a separate document. I need to print out to you the existing conditions document. It was 335 in the packet last year. 336 337 L. Triebert:And so, what we're seeing here is like if nothing was growing, if this area wasn't growing then 338 it would, it's operating generally OK from a corridor level service with a couple of intersections that operate 339 at your failing levels of service. And so, getting back to the 2020 intersection, we looked at specific key 340 intersections along the corridor. Hopefully, that's big enough and so you can see we're, you know, A, B, 341 and Cs with some E, some Ds in various places. But what we're saying is, if we keep the two lanes and 342 the configurations as they are now, single lane approaches, maybe a left turn lane here or there and we 343 layer on top of that the future your traffic that's when you get these E & F from both a corridor and an 344 intersection levels of service so what I just showed you with the dots and again for the April meeting, we 345 can make these graphics more consistent. So, it's more of an apples-to-apples conversation. I just kind 346 of pulled together some things that we have on hand for today, but so this is the 2050 do nothing, versus 347 widening to four lanes and putting in the intersection language improvements that were also part of the 348 recommendations (speaker shared her screen and another graphic). So, you can see in 2050 everything 349 red here, you know, 175 seconds of delay per vehicle is kind of what that means. And when we do the 350 improvement, we go to 30 seconds of delay. Again, these are peak-hour analyses. Just as that as that 351 design hour, but you can see the kind of red really improves once we do the vehicular improvements and 352 that is the case of what 70 is going to do in the future to accommodate the traffic that is expected. 353 354 M. Hughes: Nicely done. I put a question earlier in the chatjust to that point, but going back to the existing 355 condition diagrams that you had, is there maybe more of a question for Nish but are there any things on 356 the docket in the short term to improve what are the current delays? 357 358 N. Trivedi: Just to give you an example, Efland and Cedar Grove Rd-that where is says C, that's Efland 359 Industrial development that's going on right now. If you drive in that area, you'll see this big gray building 360 going up and construction going on and development going on for the industrial park that's been 361 developed there. 362 363 M. Hughes: Yeah, I crossed that intersection a couple of times a week. 364 365 N. Trivedi: Yeah, well, that traffic caused by that is in their traffic impact analysis. That development 366 predates this study. This is also showing that OK, you do nothing with 70 more traffic from developments 367 like this is going to cause on that 70. 368 369 L. Triebert: And so, Michael, one thing I'd say to address the "anything on the docket" we are looking at 370 this from a 21-plus mile corridor perspective if NCDOT or the county or the MPOs- if they want to elevate 371 specific smaller projects then showing those problems in this and potential recommendations works the 372 same way- as it kind of being an on the books recommendation for when DOT does a wider project. So, 373 if you look at the NC 86 at US 70, we're currently at a level service C and when we've got their highlighted 374 purple, which shows potential queuing issues, that's in the existing conditions. And so, if that's seen as 375 an issue that someone, like the MPO, the county, or locals want to elevate in the NDOT prioritization 376 process. Well, then, now they've got something here to start from as a recommendation for what could 377 be done to improve that now, it would not include the four-lane widening yet, but you could set it up such 378 that it doesn't preclude the four-lane widening, but maybe does some local widening to allow for dual left 379 turn lanes or an exclusive right or something like that. And so, just like the on-the-docket intersection 380 question,they can kind of individually be pulled out as location-specific recommendations if those projects 381 want to be prioritized by the various agencies and are looking for funding from DOT in that way. 382 383 M. Hughes: Thanks, Lauren. 384 385 N. Trivedi: Great job with the DOT perspective and how this plan gives us leverage with the DOT and 386 the state-recommended improvements on the road, but by locally adopted plan it gives us as planners 387 as long as a darling and stuff through development review process to impose these recommendations 388 on the developer. So if the developer, say, five years down the line, decides to put a hospital or some 389 other industrial development or some other development or a subdivision in along the corridor or anything, 390 or a shopping mall or something along the corridor, it gives us leverage to the development review 391 process to say, hey developer, we have this adopted plan, you need to do XYZ because of a locally 392 adopted plan. 393 394 L. Triebert: Either need to dedicate the land such that it can be built in the future, or if it's a product of a 395 traffic impact analysis that they need to build one of those lanes or something like that. Again, this, as 396 Nish said, gives you just the base leg to stand on to start requiring those things of developers. 397 398 M. Hughes: Cool. And I will say this, Nish probably knows that, but I've been on the other side of that 399 conversation where I've brought something in and had that kind of feedback that we have to do some 400 infrastructure improvement to get it through. But, Lauren, can you go back to the previous slide before 401 this one that showed red dots at the intersection with 5th St, 4th St, and 3rd St? 402 403 L. Triebert: Yes, I can. So, this is the corridor level of service that those are just indicating that those are 404 signalized intersections. 405 406 M. Hughes: And that's current conditions. 407 408 L. Triebert: Current conditions. 409 410 M. Hughes: D.And what kind of delay might you expect with the? 411 412 L. Triebert: So, let's see, from an intersection standpoint, here we go. So, your average travel speed, free 413 flow for a D. OK, average travel speed. 414 415 M. Hughes: And you could follow up in our meeting, you can follow up in our meeting. But the question 416 would be also just to follow up on that, not necessarily looking for the answer, but is there anything niche 417 or team that we could do in a group that would encourage some analysis of signal timing or other ways? 418 419 N. Trivedi: Signal timing requires a DOT warrant analysis for signalization and traffic signals. Meaning, 420 DOT will require a detailed warrant analysis. Even, I mean, Chapel was trying to synchronize all their 421 signals. And the synchronization of the Chape Hill signals is requiring a detailed warning analysis before 422 DOT synchronizes all the signals on the MLK and other corridors on Chapel Hill. That is something that 423 Chapel Hill is trying to work on. So, there is a level of work that can be done. It's more done 424 administratively with DOT. Give you an example, and this is to address two of your points, The Lawrence 425 Rd. Development where the Charter school is going up. The Charter school did a traffic impact analysis. 426 Kimley-Horn did the traffic impact analysis for the charter school and the Rec Center, going there on 427 Lawrence & 70 business. The developer had met the traffic warrant for Signalizing the intersection of 70 428 business and Lawrence Rd. OK, the developer had met the DOT traffic warrant for a signal. The 429 Developer was offering $400,000 for the signal, cutting a check. Here's the check for the signal and the 430 improvement of that intersection would turn lanes and everything. DOT said no. Because it involved a 431 school and DOT would have to give the money back. 432 433 M. Hughes: Yeah, that was my next question. Why? But you got it. 434 435 N. Trivedi: Because State law changed about schools or any improvements, traffic improvements related 436 to schools DOT has to reimburse the Developer. 437 438 L. Triebert: I did find this table (speaker shares screen for section 1.4.2). It's about delay associated with 439 the levels of service, Michael, and this is specific to intersections as opposed to corridor levels. But you 440 know a level service D on average per vehicle you're between basically 30 and 60 seconds at a signalized 441 intersection. 442 443 M. Hughes: Got it. 444 445 L: Triebert: And we strive for C or better, but D is doable but Es and Fs, we really try to mitigate-whether 446 that's optimized timings, if you can get those pushed through, or additional capacity. 447 448 M. Hughes: Thank you. 449 450 N. Trivedi: OK, I do want to address Sherry's question and I'm sorry, Michael, do you have another 451 question? Go ahead, Michael. 452 453 M. Hughes: On one last curveball question. How does the level, what does the existing level of service 454 on NC 54, which we also just currently recommended to the BOCC move forward? 455 456 N. Trivedi: They're in the existing conditions report, so I'll get that to you and present that also at the 457 meeting if you need to see that, it has other levels. 458 459 M. Hughes: I think it's it would. It would be interesting, just as a point of comparison for me, because 1 460 don't travel the 70 corridor much, I tend to cross it, but I tend to travel 54 a lot and this is more unique to 461 me. It's just my curiosity. 462 463 N. Trivedi: Yeah, I'm happy to present that. 464 465 M. Hughes: Thanks very much, Nish and Lauren. 466 467 N. Trivedi: And Sherry, to help answer your question regarding what you can do with the study, we can 468 only affect the Orange County portion. So, you can make your recommendation for your action at the 469 April meeting any approval of the study contingent on XYZ like this is recommended approval. 470 Recommending this like, OK, we also recommend whatever you want to do with the speed for the rural 471 portion of Orange County. Like if you want to say the recommended speed be issued addressed a little 472 differently like changing or reducing the speed as your action also includes additional recommendations 473 to be considered through your action at the April meeting. So as an OUTBoard, we do have a strong 474 influence in shaping the orange, the rural portion, because the towns are taking independent action on 475 their town portion of it. So, we kind of tell Hillsboro what to do. We can't tell Mebane what to do. 476 477 S. Appel: OK, so I just want to make sure I understand what you are saying. Are you saying that if at our 478 April meeting, we can review this and we can ask that some of the recommendations be taken out before 479 they? 480 481 N. Trivedi: Not taken out but changed, like you can make changes because right now the actions that the 482 towns are taking are endorsing the plan as is. Mebane's action has been endorsing the whole plan as is, 483 so we can't take anything out of something that's been approved by them, and that's something that those 484 boards going to be doing tomorrow when I presented to Hillsboro so you can make changes to the Orange 485 County's portion that you feel are needed but you cannot remove something that's been approved. What 486 is it that you want to do with the speed? Is there a certain idea that we can explore that the consultant 487 can explore for the April meeting for the speed? 488 489 S. Appel: I just find that that change in speed limit is not necessarily going to achieve what the 490 recommendation wants it to, and I think- 491 492 L. Triebert: That's where I wonder if we may need some sort of interim meeting or email or a memo of 493 some sort kind of laying out some of our answers to these because we haven't gone into depth and in 494 some of the things about what the crash trends show about congestion and how the speed does line up 495 with severity and run-off road crashes. I would like to be able to show you guys those things that may 496 change whether you want to endorse the speed. If we do that presentation of data and kind of information 497 at the April meeting then there's potential for changes to recommendations and then it's a following 498 meeting where it's finally endorsed or if we want to try to address as much as we can so that there is or 499 isn't, there's a clear approval or not a hey if you change this and adjust that then we'll approve it. 500 N. Trivedi: The OUTBoard meeting is on April 15th. There's a third Monday of the month. 501 1 don't think you can do April 1 st. 502 503 L. Triebert: No, no. 504 505 N. Trivedi: So, I don't know if the Board wants to get together again between the 2nd and the 15th, or 506 would you like to let the consultant provide more information together and present at the 15th meeting? 507 508 M. Hughes: My perspective would be to wait until the 15th. 509 510 N. Trivedi: Yeah, as much mine. 511 512 L. Triebert: Yep, OK. 513 514 N. Trivedi: And one thing that one thing just to give you an example of a contingent approval is the NC 515 54 core board study that has been approved to give you an example of how effective a conditional 516 approval is. Here's an example of how effective it is, and this has been proven because I've got it done 517 with a confirmation from DOT confirming this. The approval of the Multimodal corridor study like 54, was 518 approved on the condition that the complete streets and multimodal accommodations be included in any 519 roadway improvement. DOT came back with a preliminary courtesy Complete Streets review of that 520 approval, even though it's not a program project, even though it's not in the STIP, it's 521 going through a scoring process right now, DOT has written back with a preliminary courtesy complete 522 street review that any how improvements on 54 will include non-highway improvements paid by the state. 523 524 L. Triebert: Yeah, and I can speak a little further to that cause one of the other contracts that I work on 525 and run for our firm is the DOT Express design contract, which is basically the process that DOT uses to 526 get planning-level project-specific cost estimates that help with prioritization. And I happen to we VHB is 527 doing the 54 express design and it does have those accommodations included in the design and the cost 528 and that is because those uh those facilities and accommodations are included in planning documents. 529 And so now the inner integrated Mobility division does a review and makes sure that projects moving 530 forward are inclusive of those types of complete street elements. 531 532 L. Triebert: Well, it sounds like we've got several action items in this to follow up with on you. Just digging 533 a little deeper into some data and graphics to answer some of these questions that you'll will be able to 534 present at the 15th meeting. 535 536 N. Trivedi: Thank you everybody at the OUTBoard for participating in this. 537 538 S. Appel: Is it possible for you to put together whatever kind of question, answer, reference, document, 539 PowerPoint or something like that that we can look at beforehand and then give you any follow-up 540 questions before that meeting so that we can have an expedited meeting for this? 541 542 L. Triebert: I'll see, you know, within the next two weeks, there's just three weeks, but I think we've got a 543 lot of the information available. It's just a matter of like putting it together. I want to follow this meeting up 544 with an email that outlines the questions that need to get answered and then present the answers to 545 those you know and getting follow-up will kind of be time-dependent on what we can get done before the 546 15th. 547 548 Members gave their salutations and the meeting was adjourned. ORANGE TRANSPORTATION COUNTY GOVERNMENT TRANSPORTATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT COUNTY NoKm CALIQLLNA PUBLIC TRANSIT �rangeCounty Item 5.a. Subject: 2023 Annual Report & Work Plan Amendment Attachment: 1. Annual Report and Work Plan —Track Changes 2. Annual Report and Work Plan Amended PURPOSE:To approve the Orange Unified Transportation Board (OUTBoard) 2023 Annual Report and Work Plan Amendment. BACKGROUND: November 2023, the OUTBoard approved the 2023 Annual Report and Work Plan. On June 17th OUTBoard approved the need for the Transportation Director. This duly approved action requires the approved Annual Report and Work Plan be amended with the associated responsibilities. Amendment: • Primary- Darlene Weaver to Nishith Trivedi, Transportation Director • Additional Professional Support to OUTBoard to Secondary administration • Office Assistant—Vacant to Darlene Weaver, Transportation Planning Manager FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact to the County. SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goals are applicable to this item: • GOAL: FOSTER A COMMUNITY CULTURE THAT REJECTS OPPRESSION AND INEQUITY The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race or color; religious or philosophical beliefs; sex, gender or sexual orientation; national origin or ethnic background; age; military service; disability; and familial, residential or economic status. • GOAL: ENSURE ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY The creation and preservation of infrastructure, policies, programs, and funding necessary for residents to provide shelter, food, clothing and medical care for themselves and their dependents. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: The following Orange County Environmental Goal impact is applicable to this item: • CLEAN OR AVOIDED TRANSPORTATION Implement programs that monitor and improve local and regional air quality by 1) promoting public transportation options; 2) decreasing dependence on single-occupancy vehicles, and 3) otherwise minimizing the need for travel. Action: Approve Amendment 600 Hwy 86 N - Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 Phone (919) 245-2008 - Fax (919) 732-2137 orangecountync.gov/transportation NAME OF BOARD/COMMISSION: Orange Unified Transportation Board (OUTBoard) Report Period January 2023- December 2023 ORANGE COUNTY ADVISORY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS INPUT FOR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' ANNUAL PLANNING RETREAT The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) welcomes input from various advisory boards and commissions in preparation for its annual planning retreat. Please complete the following information, limited to the front and back of this form. Other background materials may be provided as a supplement to, but not as a substitute for, this form. Person to address the BOCC and contact information: Michael Hughes, Chair. Telephone (919) 270-6462; Email mmh@mmhpe.com Primary County Staff Contacts: • Primary administration and professional development support for OUTboard o DaFlene Weaver, TFanspot4ation Planning Man^gel o Nishith Trivedi, Transportation Director • Secondary administration e--Offiee Assistant Vae-ant o Darlene Weaver, Transportation Planning Manger • Burlington-Graham Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and Durham- Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO and Central Pines Rural Planning Organization (CPRPO) o Nishith Trivedi, Transportation Director • Transit Division o Jamael Wiley, Transit Operations Manager How many times per month does this board/commission meet, including any special meetings and sub-committee meetings? • Once per month-third Monday or as needed to address items that require action consistent with its Charge and Duties as specified in the OUTboard Rules and Procedures. The Board met 9 times in 2023. Brief Statement of Board/Commissions' Assigned Charge and Responsibilities. The OUTBoard is charged with advising the BOCC on the planning and programming of transportation infrastructure improvements and other County transportation planning initiatives, as directed by the Board. Upon request, OUT Board may advise other boards regarding transportation. 1 What are your Board/Commission's most important accomplishments? In 2023, the OUTBoard has: 1. Recommended County approve the NC 54 Multimodal Corridor Study. 2. Recommended County approve updated County Priorities for Strategic Prioritization of Transportation 7.0 this includes making NC 10 and Regional Transit Center in Hillsborough County Priorities. 3. Advocated for Congestion Management and Air Quality Grant for 3 MOD vans in Central Pine Rural Planning Organizastion, along with FTA 5339 discretionary grant. 4. Updated OUTBoard Policies and Procedures including quorum, meeting date, time and location. 5. Recommended County approve the Sidewalk Maintenance Agreement for bridge replacement project for state build sidewalk from home depo and Aldo, south to the new bridge 6. Recommended County approve Orange County Transportation Services Public Involvement Plan. 7. Provided comments on list of local and regional transportation Plan, programs and projects including DCHC MPO Safe Streets For All grant, 8. Approved the Safe Routes to School update Scope of Work for 2024 List of Specific Tasks, Events, or Functions Performed or Sponsored Annually. 1. Continue improving coordination, collaboration, and comprehensive transportation planning with local, regional, state, and federal agencies. 2. Continue improving upon countywide multimodal safety assessment and determine unique ways Orange County can help meet MPO safety performance measures and targets. 3. Continue pursuing all funding sources for County transportation priorities and track status of project implementation. 1. Continue monitoring locally and regionally adopted plans for updates and amendments like Orange County plans, Comprehensive Transportation Plan, Metropolitan Transportation Plan and others. 2. NCDOT's bi-annual STIP i. 1 st year, recommend to BOCC Orange County's transportation priorities for MPO/RPO SPOT consideration. ii. 2nd year, provide comments on the draft STIP 3. Regularly review NCDOT implemented projects and MPO/RPO activities. i. Bi-annually review Small Projects Program for non-STIP funding. ii. Discuss any OCPT and TAS activities. 4. BOCC initiatives as assigned. 5. OUTBoard membership, offices and other items assigned by the BOCC. 2 Describe this board/commission's activities/accomplishments in carrying out BOCC goal(s)/priorities, if applicable. Priority 6: Develop plan and tools to improve how County and citizens communicate with each other; foster two-way exchange. • Regularly update Transportation Planning and OUTBoard website • Publish online all public meeting notices issued by local, regional, and state agencies related to transportation plan and projects in the County Priority 20: Support transit, pedestrian, and bicycle facilities and other alternatives to the single passenger automobile. • Ensure transit, bicycle, and pedestrian facilities are addressed in each transportation plan, project, and program. • Quarterly discuss County transit activities with OCPT and TAS. • Participate in addressing bicycle. Sidewalk, and pedestrian safety for Safe Routes for schools and residents in Orange County • Actively participate in states SPOT/STIP process as well as MPO/RPO activities ensuring multimodal issues are addressed. Identify any activities this board/commission expects to carry out in 2023 as they relate to established BOCC goals and priorities. If applicable,is there a fiscal impact (i.e., funding, staff time, and other resources) associated with these proposed activities (please list). Following task are part of OUTBoard' current work plan 1. Continue expanding Moblity-on-Demand 2. Continue advancing the Regional Transit Center in Hillsborough 2. Implementation of the complete street and vision policy through grants, transit tax and CIP. 3. Participated in aspects of the OCPT 5311 Rural area and 5339 combined capital grants- analysis, and recommendations to support transit services and funding to non-urbanized areas. 4. Support the departments Transit Plan and Short-Range Transit Plan updates 6. Updated the Safe Routes to school project to include safety for all schools in Orange County. 7. Implement NC 54 Multimodal Corridor Improvements through complete street and vision zero 8. Complete US 70 Multimodal Corridor Study by providing recommendations on improvements for roads, bikes, and pedestrians and requesting County approve the study 9. Advance the County's Transit Dashboard with transportation performance measures and other improvements. 3 What are the concerns or emerging issues your board has identified for the upcoming year that it plans to address, or wishes to bring to the Commissioners' attention? 1. Monitor connectivity and infrastructural changes with the local jurisdictions, surrounding counties, regional agencies, and along utility easements to create a more comprehensive multimodal transportation system. 2. Work with NCDOT to promote funding of multimodal projects in rural areas to a greater degree. 3. Promote alternative transportation modes during peak hours via public-private partnerships through County TDM Program. 4. Continue work with NCDOT in completing pedestrian counts as a function of the Municipal Schools Transportation Assistance (MSTA) study conducted at Grady Brown Elementary School and Cedar Ridge High School and share findings from the final report. 5. Improve transportation planning process by encouraging local schools and other public agencies to be more involved through public engagement. 6. Pursue alternative means of addressing local match and local administration requirements for non-highway projects when plausible options exist for rural, low- density areas of the County; at the same time, encourage municipal partners to pursue similar options in urbanized, higher-density municipal areas. 4 NAME OF BOARD/COMMISSION: Orange Unified Transportation Board (OUTBoard) Report Period January 2023- December 2023 ORANGE COUNTY ADVISORY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS INPUT FOR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' ANNUAL PLANNING RETREAT The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) welcomes input from various advisory boards and commissions in preparation for its annual planning retreat. Please complete the following information, limited to the front and back of this form. Other background materials may be provided as a supplement to, but not as a substitute for, this form. Person to address the BOCC and contact information: Michael Hughes, Chair. Telephone (919) 270-6462; Email mmh@mmhpe.com Primary County Staff Contacts: • Primary administration and professional development support for OUTboard o Nishith Trivedi, Transportation Director • Secondary administration o Darlene Weaver, Transportation Planning Manager • Burlington-Graham Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and Durham- Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO and Central Pines Rural Planning Organization (CPRPO) o Nishith Trivedi, Transportation Director • Transit Division o Jamael Wiley, Transit Operations Manager How many times per month does this board/commission meet, including any special meetings and sub-committee meetings? • Once per month-third Monday or as needed to address items that require action consistent with its Charge and Duties as specified in the OUTboard Rules and Procedures. The Board met 9 times in 2023. Brief Statement of Board/Commissions' Assigned Charge and Responsibilities. The OUTBoard is charged with advising the BOCC on the planning and programming of transportation infrastructure improvements and other County transportation planning initiatives, as directed by the Board. Upon request, OUT Board may advise other boards regarding transportation. 1 What are your Board/Commission's most important accomplishments? In 2023, the OUTBoard has: 1. Recommended County approve the NC 54 Multimodal Corridor Study. 2. Recommended County approve updated County Priorities for Strategic Prioritization of Transportation 7.0 this includes making NC 10 and Regional Transit Center in Hillsborough County Priorities. 3. Advocated for Congestion Management and Air Quality Grant for 3 MOD vans in Central Pine Rural Planning Organizastion, along with FTA 5339 discretionary grant. 4. Updated OUTBoard Policies and Procedures including quorum, meeting date, time and location. 5. Recommended County approve the Sidewalk Maintenance Agreement for bridge replacement project for state build sidewalk from home depo and Aldo, south to the new bridge 6. Recommended County approve Orange County Transportation Services Public Involvement Plan. 7. Provided comments on list of local and regional transportation Plan, programs and projects including DCHC MPO Safe Streets For All grant, 8. Approved the Safe Routes to School update Scope of Work for 2024 List of Specific Tasks, Events, or Functions Performed or Sponsored Annually. 1. Continue improving coordination, collaboration, and comprehensive transportation planning with local, regional, state, and federal agencies. 2. Continue improving upon countywide multimodal safety assessment and determine unique ways Orange County can help meet MPO safety performance measures and targets. 3. Continue pursuing all funding sources for County transportation priorities and track status of project implementation. 1. Continue monitoring locally and regionally adopted plans for updates and amendments like Orange County plans, Comprehensive Transportation Plan, Metropolitan Transportation Plan and others. 2. NCDOT's bi-annual STIP i. 1 st year, recommend to BOCC Orange County's transportation priorities for MPO/RPO SPOT consideration. ii. 2nd year, provide comments on the draft STIP 3. Regularly review NCDOT implemented projects and MPO/RPO activities. i. Bi-annually review Small Projects Program for non-STIP funding. ii. Discuss any OCPT and TAS activities. 4. BOCC initiatives as assigned. 5. OUTBoard membership, offices and other items assigned by the BOCC. 2 Describe this board/commission's activities/accomplishments in carrying out BOCC goal(s)/priorities, if applicable. Priority 6: Develop plan and tools to improve how County and citizens communicate with each other; foster two-way exchange. • Regularly update Transportation Planning and OUTBoard website • Publish online all public meeting notices issued by local, regional, and state agencies related to transportation plan and projects in the County Priority 20: Support transit, pedestrian, and bicycle facilities and other alternatives to the single passenger automobile. • Ensure transit, bicycle, and pedestrian facilities are addressed in each transportation plan, project, and program. • Quarterly discuss County transit activities with OCPT and TAS. • Participate in addressing bicycle. Sidewalk, and pedestrian safety for Safe Routes for schools and residents in Orange County • Actively participate in states SPOT/STIP process as well as MPO/RPO activities ensuring multimodal issues are addressed. Identify any activities this board/commission expects to carry out in 2023 as they relate to established BOCC goals and priorities. If applicable,is there a fiscal impact (i.e., funding, staff time, and other resources) associated with these proposed activities (please list). Following task are part of OUTBoard' current work plan 1. Continue expanding Moblity-on-Demand 2. Continue advancing the Regional Transit Center in Hillsborough 2. Implementation of the complete street and vision policy through grants, transit tax and CIP. 3. Participated in aspects of the OCPT 5311 Rural area and 5339 combined capital grants- analysis, and recommendations to support transit services and funding to non-urbanized areas. 4. Support the departments Transit Plan and Short-Range Transit Plan updates 6. Updated the Safe Routes to school project to include safety for all schools in Orange County. 7. Implement NC 54 Multimodal Corridor Improvements through complete street and vision zero 8. Complete US 70 Multimodal Corridor Study by providing recommendations on improvements for roads, bikes, and pedestrians and requesting County approve the study 9. Advance the County's Transit Dashboard with transportation performance measures and other improvements. 3 What are the concerns or emerging issues your board has identified for the upcoming year that it plans to address, or wishes to bring to the Commissioners' attention? 1. Monitor connectivity and infrastructural changes with the local jurisdictions, surrounding counties, regional agencies, and along utility easements to create a more comprehensive multimodal transportation system. 2. Work with NCDOT to promote funding of multimodal projects in rural areas to a greater degree. 3. Promote alternative transportation modes during peak hours via public-private partnerships through County TDM Program. 4. Continue work with NCDOT in completing pedestrian counts as a function of the Municipal Schools Transportation Assistance (MSTA) study conducted at Grady Brown Elementary School and Cedar Ridge High School and share findings from the final report. 5. Improve transportation planning process by encouraging local schools and other public agencies to be more involved through public engagement. 6. Pursue alternative means of addressing local match and local administration requirements for non-highway projects when plausible options exist for rural, low- density areas of the County; at the same time, encourage municipal partners to pursue similar options in urbanized, higher-density municipal areas. 4 ORANGE TRANSPORTATION COUNTY GOVERNMENT TRANSPORTATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT COUNTY NoKm CALIQLLNA PUBLIC TRANSIT OrangeCounty Item 5.a. Subject: 2019 Efland-Buckhorn-Mebane Access Management Plan Update Attachment: Scope of Work PURPOSE: To approve Scope of Work for 2019 Efland-Buckhorn-Mebane Access Management Plan (2019 EBM AMP) Update. BACKGROUND: The 2019 EBM AMP (link) was adopted in accordance to state and local laws using best transportation planning practices and through extensive public involvement. The E-B-M AMP is: • A long-range transportation vision for the area illustrating roadway alignment and corridor width necessary to serve future land uses and address traffic impact as development occurs. • A plan that assists the County in promoting economic development through its development review process by encouraging developers to dedicate right-of-way necessary for future roads. The area has experienced growth (link) as indicated in the plan and anticipates even more as projected, this includes and is not limited to: Approved: • R+L Carriers—Trucking and Freight Terminal on 83.4 acres at Buckhorn and 1-40/1-85 • Medline— 1.2 Mil SF medical supply distribution center on 176 acres along West Ten Rd. • Buckhorn Industrial — Light manufacturing on 49.3 acres at Buckhorn and West Ten Rd. • West Ten Industrial — Light manufacturing on 47.5 acres at Buckhorn and West Ten Rd. • Buckhorn Business Center — Master planned light manufacturing campus on 128.8 acres at Buckhorn Industrial Parkway and Buckhorn Road. In-Process • Carolina Achieve (link) Orange County and the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization also approved the US 70 Multimodal Corridor Study. County also anticipates approving the Short Range Transit Plan in September 2024 which seeks to improve transit in the planning area. Other approved and soon to be approved plans resulting in updating to the 2019 EBM AMP include and are not limited to: • 2022 County's Strategic Plan • Hillsborough Connectivity Plan • Mebane Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan • Orange County Safe Routes to School Update 600 Hwy 86 N - Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 Phone (919)245-2008 - Fax (919) 732-2137 orangecountync.gov/transportation The 2019 EBM AMP was updated in-house by County staff and its update will use a similar process, taking into consideration all the growth between Hillsborough and Mebane as well as the approved plans. Transportation Services Director recommends Orange Unified Transportation Board (OUTBoard) review,comment on,and approve the attached Scope of Work (Attachment 1). The Scope of Work is mirrored off of the 2024 Safe Routes to School Update Scope of Work. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact to the County. OCTS is conducting this update in-house through department resources. SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goals are applicable to this item: • GOAL: FOSTER A COMMUNITY CULTURE THAT REJECTS OPPRESSION AND INEQUITY The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race or color; religious or philosophical beliefs; sex, gender or sexual orientation; national origin or ethnic background; age; military service; disability; and familial, residential or economic status. • GOAL: ENSURE ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY The creation and preservation of infrastructure, policies, programs, and funding necessary for residents to provide shelter,food, clothing and medical care for themselves and their dependents. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: The following Orange County Environmental Goal impact is applicable to this item: • CLEAN OR AVOIDED TRANSPORTATION Implement programs that monitor and improve local and regional air quality by 1) promoting public transportation options; 2) decreasing dependence on single-occupancy vehicles, and 3) otherwise minimizing the need for travel. Action: Approve the 2019 EBM AMP Scope of Work (Attachment 1). 2019 Efland-Buckhorn-Mebane Access Management Plan Update Scope of Work Contents Scopeof Work............................................................................................................................................................2 Task A—Analysis of Existing Conditions.....................................................................................................................2 KeyDeliverables: ....................................................................................................................................................2 TaskB— Public Engagement.......................................................................................................................................2 KeyDeliverables: ....................................................................................................................................................2 TackC— Draft Plan......................................................................................................................................................2 KeyDeliverables: ....................................................................................................................................................2 TaskD—Final Plan Approval.......................................................................................................................................3 KeyDeliverables: ....................................................................................................................................................3 2019 Efland-Buckhorn-Mebane Access Management Plan Update Scope of Work Scope of Work 1. In-House-County transportation staff is of professional planners, business administrators,and public servants with combined over 50 years of experience. 2. Anticipated Schedule—August 2024 kick-off- December 2024 Final Plan to Board of County Commissioners 3. Public Engagement in accordance with the Orange County Transportation Services Public Involvement Plan Task A — Analysis of Existing Conditions Staff will conduct a general planning level analysis of the current plan and transportation network: • Data driven approach using adopted and published data including locally approved Traffic Impact Analysis This is the key task for this project. Staff will collect all relevant data from publicly available sources, field work and independent research (e.g. data collection, US Census, Triangle Regional Model, NCDOT data, etc.). All information will be consolidate into clear and concise format including maps. An Existing Conditions Report will be presented before determining any recommendations. Key Deliverables: • Updated GIS maps • Charts, graphs, tables and associated narrative • Multimodal network analysis • Existing Conditions Report Task B — Public Engagement Staff will use the approved Department specific Public Involvement Plan to conduct public engagement. This includes and not limited to: • Two round of public workshop and other pop-up events in the planning area. • OUTBoard meetings and formal Public Hearing before BOCC Staff will prepare a summary of engagement and include it in the plan. The summary will include graphics and charts to illustrate the feedback received and how it helped formulate the recommendations and action plan. Key Deliverables: • 2 Public Workshops in planning area • Project specific website for continuous public engagement • Public Engagement Report Tack C — Draft Plan After finalizing the Existing Conditions Analysis and Public Engagement report, staff will draft alternatives and recommendations for short, mid and long term strategies. They will be presented the draft plan to the Orange Unified Transportation Board for feedback and again for final action.The final plan will be presented the Orange County Board of County Commissioners for public hearing and subsequent action. Key Deliverables: • Draft alternatives and recommendations • Draft 2019 Efland-Buckhorn-Mebane Access Management Plan Update 2019 Efland-Buckhorn-Mebane Access Management Plan Update Scope of Work Task D — Final Plan The project will begin in August 2024 and anticipates completion December 2024.The table below shows the task-wise schedule through the project. Task August- October November December September A- Existing Conditions Report B- Public Engagement Report C- Draft Plan D - Final Plan Action Strategies In this task, the staff will develop an action strategies that outlines the steps of data collection, timeline, costs, responsible parties and other information necessary to realize the recommendations identified in the plan. The action strategies will highlight coordination efforts between different members, potential partnerships with relevant agencies, and strategies to engage the community in the implementation process. Staff will present the draft action strategies plan to the OUTBoard for their comments, and will revise before drafting the final plan. Final Plan and updated graphics A final plan will conclude the project. This includes a final table of projects, with updated maps, and recommendations. Staff will present the final plan to the County's Transportation Advisory Service for technical approval, OUTBoard for public approval and Board of County Commissions for final approval. Key Deliverables: • Action Strategies • Final Report • Updated graphics and maps ORANGE ORANGE COUNTY GOVERNMENT ORANGE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT N0Wr CAROLINA OrangeCounty i URLIC TRANSIT Item 5.c. Subject: 2055 Metropolitan Transportation Plan Update PURPOSE: Provided comments on the 2055 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) Update. BACKGROUND: The Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO) is responsible for long range transportation planning for Durham County and parts of Orange and Chatham Counties and is updating its MTP. The 2055 MTP is a federally required, financially constrained plan that recommends major transportation projects, policies and strategies designed to maintain existing transportation systems and address the region's future travel needs. Projects must be in the 2055 MTP to receive any state and federal transportation funding through the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). 2055 MTP Plan Process to date: • August 9, 2023 — DCHC MPO Board adopted Triangle Regional Model • December 2023— Public Engagement—Goals and Objectives o Engagement Strategy (link) approved November 2023 • February 27, 2024— DCHC MPO Board approved Goals June 2024, the DCHC MPO Board approved the Objectives in relationship to the approved Goals for the 2055 MTP. Staff is providing this presentation as an opportunity for Board comments. All comments will be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and the MPO for its consideration. For more information on the 2055 MTP Update please visit the project website (link). FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact to the County. SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goals are applicable to this item: • GOAL: FOSTER A COMMUNITY CULTURE THAT REJECTS OPPRESSION AND INEQUITY The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race or color; religious or philosophical beliefs; sex, gender or sexual orientation; national origin or ethnic background; age; military service; disability; and familial, residential or economic status. • GOAL: ENSURE ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY The creation and preservation of infrastructure, policies, programs, and funding necessary for residents to provide shelter, food, clothing and medical care for themselves and their dependents. 600 Hwy 86 N - Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 Phone (919) 245-2008 - Fax (919) 732-2137 orangecountync.gov/transportation ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: The following Orange County Environmental Goal impact is applicable to this item: • CLEAN OR AVOIDED TRANSPORTATION Implement programs that monitor and improve local and regional air quality by 1) promoting public transportation options; 2) decreasing dependence on single-occupancy vehicles, and 3) otherwise minimizing the need for travel. Action: Provide comments ORANGE ORANGE COUNTY GOVERNMENT ORANGE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT N0Wr CAROLINA OrangeCounty i URLIC TRANSIT Item 5.d. Subject: Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) PURPOSE: Approval of projects for RAISE FY25 and FY26 submission BACKGROUND: The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) or Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Bill appropriates an estimated $1.5 billion annually to all local, regional, and state government for transportation improvement planning and construction projects. Currently the Federal government has invested $7.2 billion on over 550 projects across the country. The program has available funding for two more Federal Fiscal Years. Examples of such projects in North Carolina include: o $12,044,800— Holloway Street: Safe Access to Durham's Busiest Transit Route Project o $25,000,000— RTP's new multi modal transportation center o $5,000,000—Charlotte's Making Our Roads SAFER: A Cross-Jurisdictional Planning Study Applicants can submit 3 projects per year. Two types of projects can be pursued: o Capital - $5 million minimum urban, $1 million minimum rural • Highway, bridge, or other road projects eligible under title 23, United States Code; • Public transportation projects eligible under chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code; • Passenger and freight rail transportation projects. o Planning— no minimum • Preparation, or design (for example -environmental analysis, equity analysis, community engagement, feasibility studies, benefit cost analysis (BCA), and other pre-construction activities) of eligible surface transportation capital projects that will not result in construction with RAISE funding Maximum grant award is $25 million. Project submission deadlines is typically January/February for the subsequent Federal Fiscal Year. Orange County Transportation Director recommends the following three for FY25 and FY26 submissions. o Capital 1 - Regional Multimodal Hub in Hillsborough o Capital 2 - Implementation of 2024 Orange County Safe Routes to School update o Planning- Expansion of North-South Bus Rapid Transit to Hillsborough OCTS will task WSP as the on-call consultant in preparing the necessary application and staff will pursue letters of support from local, regional and state agencies. More information on RAISE grant can be found here (link). FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact to the County. 600 Hwy 86 N - Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 Phone (919)245-2008 - Fax(919) 732-2137 orangecountync.gov/transportation SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goals are applicable to this item: • GOAL: FOSTER A COMMUNITY CULTURE THAT REJECTS OPPRESSION AND INEQUITY The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race or color; religious or philosophical beliefs; sex, gender or sexual orientation; national origin or ethnic background; age; military service; disability; and familial, residential or economic status. • GOAL: ENSURE ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY The creation and preservation of infrastructure, policies, programs, and funding necessary for residents to provide shelter, food, clothing and medical care for themselves and their dependents. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: The following Orange County Environmental Goal impact is applicable to this item: • CLEAN OR AVOIDED TRANSPORTATION Implement programs that monitor and improve local and regional air quality by 1) promoting public transportation options; 2) decreasing dependence on single-occupancy vehicles, and 3) otherwise minimizing the need for travel. Action: Approval projects for FY25 and FY26 submission ORANGE ORANGE COUNTY GOVERNMENT ORANGE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT N0Xr CAROLINA OrangeCounty i URLIC TRANSIT Item 6.b. Subject: Orange County Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan PURPOSE: Receive update on Orange County Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan. BACKGROUND: On May 22, 2024, Central Pine Regional Council, Lead Planning Agency for Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization, published a Request for Proposal (link). The purpose of this RFP was to select a vendor for the County's first Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, a planning project similar to other County such plans appearing across the state: • Pender County Bike/Pedestrian Plan (link) • New Hanover County Bike/Pedestrian Plan (link) The Scope of Work mirrors that of the Durham County's future Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan. The plan is a data and public driven approach to determining specific non-motor vehicle infrastructure projects in the unincorporated parts of Orange County. FINANCIAL IMPACT:There is no financial impact to the County. Projects identified in the plan will be part of for future State and Federal funding and administratively done through Department's Non-State Transportation Improvement Program now reviewed by Orange Unified Transportation Board on a quarterly bases. SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goals are applicable to this item: • GOAL: FOSTER A COMMUNITY CULTURE THAT REJECTS OPPRESSION AND INEQUITY The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race or color; religious or philosophical beliefs; sex, gender or sexual orientation; national origin or ethnic background; age; military service; disability; and familial, residential or economic status. • GOAL: ENSURE ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY The creation and preservation of infrastructure, policies, programs, and funding necessary for residents to provide shelter, food, clothing and medical care for themselves and their dependents. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: The following Orange County Environmental Goal impact is applicable to this item: • CLEAN OR AVOIDED TRANSPORTATION Implement programs that monitor and improve local and regional air quality by 1) promoting public transportation options; 2) decreasing dependence on single-occupancy vehicles, and 3) otherwise minimizing the need for travel. Action: Receive update 600 Hwy 86 N - Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 Phone (919) 245-2008 - Fax (919) 732-2137 orangecountync.gov/transportation ORANGE ORANGE COUNTY GOVERNMENT ORANGE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT N0Wr CAROLINA OrangeCounty i URLIC TRANSIT Item 6.c. Subject: Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan PURPOSE: Receive update on Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan. BACKGROUND: June 25, 2025, Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization updated the Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan (link). The plan grants participating public transit agencies access to Federal Transit Administrations 5310 grant also known as Job Access Reverse Commute, and New Freedom Grants. Planning Process: • March -April 2024— public workshops on plan, including County Department on Aging • May 2024— Draft plan released for public comment • June 2024—Approved • July 10 to August 23, 2024—Call for Projects Staff is working on putting together two potential applications for consideration. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact to the County. Plan serves as opportunity for department to pursue FTA 5310 grants. SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goals are applicable to this item: • GOAL: FOSTER A COMMUNITY CULTURE THAT REJECTS OPPRESSION AND INEQUITY The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race or color; religious or philosophical beliefs; sex, gender or sexual orientation; national origin or ethnic background; age; military service; disability; and familial, residential or economic status. • GOAL: ENSURE ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY The creation and preservation of infrastructure, policies, programs, and funding necessary for residents to provide shelter, food, clothing and medical care for themselves and their dependents. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: The following Orange County Environmental Goal impact is applicable to this item: • CLEAN OR AVOIDED TRANSPORTATION Implement programs that monitor and improve local and regional air quality by 1) promoting public transportation options; 2) decreasing dependence on single-occupancy vehicles, and 3) otherwise minimizing the need for travel. Action: Receive update 600 Hwy 86 N - Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 Phone (919)245-2008 - Fax (919) 732-2137 orangecountync.gov/transportation