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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 02-04-2003-5a2ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: February 4, 2003 Action Agenda Item No. 6 -0 =a SUBJECT: Arthur Minnis Road Status Report DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Status Report on Paving Issues Regarding Arthur Minnis Craig Benedict, ext. 2592 Road (SR 1115) Karen Lincoln, ext. 2594 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane (336)227-2031 PURPOSE: To receive a report on issues pertaining to paving Arthur Minnis Road, SR 1115, and to consider requesting that North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) place Arthur Minnis Road in the 2003 - 2004 Secondary Road Improvement Program for Orange County. BACKGROUND: Arthur Minnis Road is the middle link of an east-west collector route that includes Bradshaw Quarry Road and New Hope Church Road. Some property owners along the unpaved portion of Arthur Minnis Road, as well as County administration and staff, have expressed concerns about safety issues based on the road being unpaved and having several severe curves. Not all property owners want the road paved and some have not been willing to dedicate the right-of-way. New legislation would allow NCDOT, under certain circumstances, to initiate condemnation proceedings to attain right-of-way in order to pave the road. Although not enough of the land owners along Arthur Minnis Road have dedicated right-of-way to meet the provisions of the new legislation, NCDOT could start new negotiations to acquire the needed right-of-way if Arthur Minnis is included in the Secondary Road Improvement Program. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no immediate financial impact associated with this item. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Administration recommends that the Board receive the report and consider authorizing the Chair to request that NCDOT include Arthur Minnis Road in the 2003 - 2004 Secondary Road Improvement Program for Orange County. 2 Issues Regarding Paving Arthur Minnis Road Paving the entire unpaved portion of Arthur Minnis Road (SR 1115), the portion between Rocky Ridge Road and Dodson's Crossroads, will address safety issues stemming from the condition of that segment of the road. Arthur Minnis Road could be paved through the Secondary Road Improvement Program for Orange County. It is NCDOT's policy to improve unsafe conditions, such as severe curves, when a road is paved as part of that program. The County may request North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to include Arthur Minnis Road in the Secondary Road Improvement Program for FY 2003-2004. That would allow NCDOT to start new negotiation efforts with property owners to attain right-of-way. NCDOT cannot pave the road unless the department has acquired the right-of-way for the road. Arthur Minnis Road is classified as an urban minor arterial in the Land Use Element of the Orange County Comprehensive Plan, as amended August 1990. The urban area boundary has since been redefined closer to Hillsborough and Chapel Hill/Carrboro. Arthur Minnis Road is no longer within the urban planning area; however, Arthur Minnis Road still functions as a collector road. Arthur Minnis Road is the middle link of an east-west collector route that includes Bradshaw Quarry Road (classified as a collector) and New Hope Church Road (classified as an urban minor arterial). Arthur Minnis Road is paved from Orange Grove Road to Dodson's Crossroads (west of the subject segment) and from Old NC 86 to Rocky Ridge Road (east of the subject segment), and is an important rural collector route. Average Daily Traffic (ADT) counts prepared by NCDOT indicate between 200 (east of Dodson's Crossroads) and 250 (west of Rocky Ridge Road) vehicles travel the unpaved segment of the road daily. That represents a 28.5% (average of counts for both locations) increase in traffic over the period 1994 - 2000 with a 22% increase in traffic from 1998 to 2000. County Administration and staff, NCDOT, and some property owners along the unpaved portion of Arthur Minnis Road have expressed concerns about safety issues based on the condition of the road, being unpaved and having several severe curves. Some property owners are also concerned that paving only a portion of the road will increase unsafe conditions because drivers could operate at higher speeds on the paved portion, and may not be able to adjust their speed quickly enough to safely handle curves when transitioning to the unpaved portion of the road. Background Arthur Minnis Road, SR 1115, was rated priority 19 in the 1993 rating for paving unpaved secondary roads (subdivision and rural) in Orange County. That list included 180 roads rated from 1 to 161 in order of priority for paving based on NC Board of Transportation (BOT) criteria for paving unpaved secondary roads. The BOT also noted its policy if right-of-way could not be obtained (if property owner would not dedicate right-of-way), that road would not be paved. 3 NCDOT proposed Arthur Minnis Road (from SR 1102, Dodson's Crossroads, to SR 1113, Rocky Ridge Road, - a distance of 1.6 miles) to be paved as the first road to be paved in the 1997 -1998 Secondary Road Improvement Program for Orange County. Arthur Minnis was rated at that time as priority 9RW indicating that there were right-of-way problems. NCDOT, in 1997, listed Arthur Minnis Road among 18 roads with unavailable right-of- way, and removed the road from the rated list of unpaved roads in the Secondary Road Improvement Program. NCDOT again proposed to pave Arthur Minnis Road in the 2001 -2002 Secondary Road Improvement Program for Orange County. NCDOT was unable to obtain right-of- way from all property owners fronting Arthur Minnis Road, and proposed to pave a 0.2- mile segment, from Rocky Ridge Road westward approximately 800 feet, for which NCDOT had attained right-of-way. NCDOT, in November 2002, approved a right-of-way encroachment agreement to the developers of Tuscany Ridge Subdivision to construct a 20' wide two lane paved roadway within the existing right-of-way of Arthur Minnis Road from the intersection of Rocky Ridge Road westward approximately 0.2-mile. Legislative Changes The NC General Assembly, in December 2002 (Session 2001), amended G.S. 136-44.7 Secondary roads; annual work program to add a new subsection (c) to allow NCDOT to initiate condemnation proceedings to attain right-of-way in order to pave a secondary road or undertake a maintenance project when at least 75% of the property owners adjacent to the project and owners of 75% of the road frontage adjacent to the project have dedicated the necessary property for the right-of-way, and have provided funds required to cover the costs of condemning the remaining property. The provision requires NCDOT to negotiate for up to six months with property owners to attain dedication of right-of-way prior to initiating condemnation proceedings. The NC General Assembly, in June 2002 (Session 2001), amended G.S. 136-44.7(c) to change the conditions under which NCDOT can initiate condemnation proceedings to "when at least seventy-five percent (75%) of the property owners adjacent to the project and owners of the majority of the road frontage adjacent to the project have dedicated the necessary property for the right-of-way and have provided funds required" to cover the costs of condemning the remaining property. Implications for Arthur Minnis Road Seventy percent (70%) of property owners having sixty-six percent (66%) of the road frontage on the unpaved portion of Arthur Minnis Road have dedicated right-of-way. One more property owner will have to dedicate right-of-way in order for NCDOT to initiate condemnation proceedings to attain the remaining right-of-way in order to pave 4 the entire road. If the road is paved in two phases (with Phase I being the portion from Rocky Ridge Road westward for approximately 0.2 mile), two or three more property owners must dedicate right-of-way in order for the provisions of G.S. 136-44.7(c) to apply in attaining the remaining right-of-way. The following chart demonstrates that, at this time, not enough property owners along Arthur Minnis Road have dedicated right-of-way in order for the State to initiate condemnation proceedings to attain right-of-way needed to pave the 1.6-mile segment of Arthur Minnis Road. G.S. 136-44.7(c) provisions for % Property Owners with Signed % Road Frontage with Signed initiating condemnation: ROW: 75% ROW: >50% Arthur Minnis Road Total Number Property % Property Total Road Road Frontage % Road Property Owners with Owners with Frontage (feet) with Signed Frontage with Owners Signed ROW Signed ROW ROW Signed ROW Whole Road: 20 14 70% 15,991 10,582 66% Phase II: 15 9 60% 14,001 8,592 61% 17* 11 * 65%* <61 % * These figures take into consideration that two properties are included in both Phase I and Phase II and those two property owners have dedicated right-of-way. Phase I paving will not include the entire road frontage along the properties. Although more property owners along Arthur Minnis Road must dedicate right-of-way in order for the State to be able to initiate condemnation proceedings to attain right-of-way needed to pave the road, there are several property owners who may be willing to dedicate right-of-way. Placing Arthur Minnis Road in the Secondary Road Improvement Program for Orange County will allow NCDOT to start new negotiations to obtain right- of-way in order to pave this segment of an important link in Orange County's rural collector road system.