AGENDA #8
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Draft Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro 2006-2012 Regional Transportation Priority List
DATE: March 22, 2004
The attached resolution would provide the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Transportation Advisory Committee with comments on the Draft 2006-2012 Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Regional Transportation Project Priority List.
At this point in the process, the Transportation Advisory Committee is preparing to adopt a Regional Priority List. This List will be used in negotiations with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to prepare draft Metropolitan and State Transportation Improvement Programs.
On October 8, 2003, the Council held a public forum to receive public comment on the development of the Town’s 2006-2012 Transportation Priority List. The Council adopted a priority list on October 28, 2004 (Attachment 1), and forwarded the List to the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Transportation Advisory Committee for their use in developing the Draft 2006-2012 Regional Priority List (Attachment 2). The final Regional Priority List will be used to develop the 2006-2012 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program. The Priority List will also be submitted to the North Carolina Department of Transportation for their use in preparing a draft 2006-2012 State Transportation Improvement Program.
The Transportation Improvement Program is required by federal transportation regulations to include projects that are anticipated to use federal and State transportation funds. Development of the Transportation Improvement Program is a cooperative process between the Metropolitan Planning Organization and the State Department of Transportation. Attachment 3 illustrates the process the Metropolitan Area and the State follow in developing the final Transportation Improvement Program.
Federal rules require that each Metropolitan Planning Organization adopt a Transportation Improvement Program that includes projects to be undertaken within the Organization’s Urban Area boundaries. The State Transportation Improvement Program will include all transportation projects within the State, including those in individual Metropolitan Urban Areas. The federal rules mandate that the Metropolitan and State Transportation Programs include exactly the same projects, budget budgets and project schedules.
At this point in the process, the Transportation Advisory Committee is preparing to adopt a Regional Priority List. This List will be used in negotiations with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to prepare draft Metropolitan and State Transportation Improvement Programs.
The Transportation Improvement Program includes projected funding from a variety of sources. The federal transportation program provides North Carolina with funds through two principal programs, the Interstate Program and the Surface Transportation Program. The Interstate Program can only fund projects along the federally designated Interstate system. Surface Transportation Program is made up of different funding programs.
The bulk of the funds can be spent on different types of transportation projects, including roadways, public transit, bicycle and pedestrian projects. A portion, 10%, of the Surface Transportation Program is allocated for the Enhancements Program, which can be used for non-roadway projects, while the same portion of the Surface Transportation Program is allocated to safety projects. We note that the State has allocated approximately $3 million Statewide from the Surface Transportation Program for bicycle and pedestrian projects and has imposed an individual project cap of $300,000.
Also included in the Transportation Improvement Program are projects using federal transit funds and Congestion Management Air Quality funds.
In addition to the sources of funding identified above the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Transportation Advisory Committee is responsible for allocating federal Surface Transportation Program Direct Allocation Funds.
The draft 2006-2012 Regional Priority List includes only projects that have been partially funded or are being proposed for new funding. Chapel Hill has several projects currently fully or partially funded in the adopted 2004-2010 Transportation Improvement Program.
Table 1: Currently Programmed Projects, 2004-2010
Transportation Improvement Program
|
Project |
Project Schedule |
|
South Columbia-bicycle and pedestrian improvements, Fordham Boulevard to Manning Drive |
Right of Way, 2005 Construction, 2007 |
|
Weaver Dairy Road-roadway improvements, NC86 to Erwin Road. |
Right of Way, 2005 Construction, 2007 |
|
Homestead Road-roadway improvements, NC86 to High School Road |
Post Years Post Years |
|
Signal System Upgrade |
Post Years |
|
Old Durham-Chapel Hill Road Bikelanes, |
Construction, 2004-5 |
|
Seawell School Road |
Bicycle Feasibility Study, 2004 |
|
Estes Drive- bicycle and pedestrian improvements, NC86 to N. Greensboro St. |
Post Years |
|
Erwin Road/US 15-501 Intersection |
Construction, 2004 |
Table 2 summarizes the funding provided for Chapel Hill projects in the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Urban Area Surface Transportation Program Direct Allocation Program. These funds are allocated by the Transportation Advisory Committee and require a 20% local match.
Table 2: Currently Programmed Projects, 2004-2010 Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Surface Transportation Program Direct Allocation
|
Project |
Allocation |
|
Bus Maintenance Facility |
FY2004-$560,000 FY2005-$800,000 FY2006-$800,000 |
|
Bus Replacement |
FY2004-$800,000 |
|
Old Durham-Chapel Hill Road Bicycle and Pedestrian Feasibility Study |
FY2004-$50,000 |
|
Morgan Creek Greenway |
FY2007-$640,000 Construction |
|
Dry Creek Greenway |
FY2006-$64,000 Design FY2008-$560,000 Construction |
|
Upper Booker Creek Greenway |
FY2006-$64,000 Design FY2008-$576,000 Construction |
Table 3 compares the priority ranking of Chapel Hill transportation projects in Town’s Priority List and the draft 2006-2012 Regional Priority List. The Regional Priority List was developed using a methodology approved by the Transportation Advisory Committee. This methodology assigns points to projects in 12 different categories. Projects with the same number of points have been listed in alphabetical order.
|
Adopted 2004-2010 Chapel Hill Priority List (Attachment 1) |
Priority in Draft 2006-2012 Regional Priority List (attachment 2) |
Notes |
|
1) Transit Capital |
#14 |
Transit capital includes vehicle replacement, fleet expansion and facility construction. |
|
2) Upgrade Signal System |
#41 |
|
|
3) Estes Drive Extension |
#25 |
|
|
4) Old Durham Chapel Hill Road |
#12 |
|
|
5) Seawell School Road |
#33 |
|
|
6) Homestead Road |
#32 |
Chapel Hill priority ranking left off Draft List. MPO has corrected. |
|
7) Morgan Creek Greenway |
#78 |
|
|
8) Estes Drive, Airport Rd to Curtis Road |
#30 |
|
|
9) Community Center to Willow |
#67 |
|
|
10) Franklin Street/Bolin Creek Greenway |
#69 |
|
|
11) Estes Drive, Curtis Road to Franklin Street |
#46 |
|
|
12) Bolin Creek Greenway |
#48 |
|
|
13) Barbee Chapel Road |
#49 |
|
|
14) Southern Railroad Greenway |
#50 |
|
|
15) Pope Road-Ephesus Church Road |
#71 |
|
|
16) Piney Mountain Road |
#72 |
|
|
17) Mt. Carmel Church Road |
#73 |
|
|
18) Dry Creek Greenway |
#53 |
|
|
19) Upper Booker Creek Greenway |
#54 |
|
|
20) Country Club Road |
#37 |
|
|
21) Fordham Boulevard, Manning Drive to Carmichael Street |
#56 |
|
|
22) Bolin Creek/Little Creek |
#57 |
|
|
23) Old Mason Farm/Finley Golf Course Road |
#58 |
|
|
24) Erwin Road, Sage Road to Durham County line. |
#64 |
|
In the Draft 2006-2012 Priority List Chapel Hill had 5 projects out of the first 36 projects listed and none in the top 10 projects. By comparison in the 2004-2010 list Chapel Hill had 17 projects out of the first 36 projects and four in the top 10 projects.
KEY ISSUES
In our review of the Draft Regional Priority List we have identified several areas of concern.
The Project Ranking Methodology (Attachment 3) has been used by the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Transportation Advisory Committee for several years. When first put into use, the criteria specifically included categories intended to give public transit, bicycle and pedestrian projects additional points. This was done to reflect the emphasis on alternative modes of transportation, included in the Urban Area Regional Transportation Plan and to offset the historically low level of funding for these types of projects in the Transportation Improvement Program. Over the last several years modifications have been made to the highway categories, resulting in a dilution of points for transit, bicycle and pedestrian projects. For example, roadway expansion projects can get points if they include bicycle, pedestrian and transit elements. At the same time there are specific categories such as safety and National Highway System, which do not allow points to be given for transit projects and only in selected instances for bicycle and pedestrian projects.
We believe that the evaluation criteria should be reviewed and revised. The revisions should include a broadening of the definition of certain categories to allow for the consideration of alternative modes of transportation. Categories such as congestion relief and air quality impacts should require roadway projects to quantify the amount of improvement, using the adopted regional model rather than a qualitative assessment.
We believe the Chapel Hill signal system upgrade is a very important project and should be given a higher priority. It appears that due to the unusual nature of this project, affecting a large area rather than a single corridor or intersection, the project was not given points for factors such as congestion relief, expands transportation choices or National Highway System. This project will improve congestion, particularly during peak hours and will include elements that will provide expanded opportunities for pedestrian and bicycle activity. We anticipate that it will also incorporate technology that will improve transit efficiency, such as signal preemption. The project includes improvements along the U.S. 15-501 corridor, which has been identified as an element of the National Highway system.
On March 10, 2004, the Transportation Advisory Committee held a public hearing on the Draft 2006-2012 Regional Priority List. At the conclusion of the Hearing the Transportation Advisory Committee directed staff to revise the list to give higher priority to public transit, bicycle and pedestrian projects. Staff has completed a preliminary revision to the list and we anticipate that Chapel Hill’s transit, bicycle and pedestrian projects will be moved up in the final ranking.
Transportation Board: (Attachment 4) The Transportation Board voted 6-0 to recommend the following comments to the Council:
Staff Comment:
We agree that the Chapel Hill signal system should be given higher priority. We have included language in the Council resolution to that effect. While we believe that Chapel Hill’s projects should be included in their priority order we understand that the application of regional priorities might result in some reordering of the projects. We suggest that the members of the Transportation Advisory Committee assess the opportunity to reorder the Chapel Hill projects to conform to the Town’s priority listing.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board: (Attachment 5) The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board voted 9-0 to recommend the following comments:
Staff Comment:
These recommendations would be useful additions to the evaluation criteria. These changes could not be implemented until the 2008-2014 Transportation Improvement Program. We have included this recommendation in Resolution A.
Planning Board: (Attachment 6): The Planning Board agreed to the following comments:
Staff Comment:
We have included recommendations concerning modifications to the ranking criteria to give additional weight to transit, bicycle and pedestrian projects. The impact on transportation projects related to and affected by the development of the Carolina North property should be reflected in the Town’s Priority List and the Regional Priority List when the Town Council has completed its review of the project.
The Transportation Advisory Committee is anticipated to approve the Regional Priority List in April, 2004 and forward a copy to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. It is anticipated that the State will release a draft State Transportation Improvement Program in June, 2004. At that time the Urban Area will prepare a draft Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program which will be used in negotiations with the State. A final draft Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program is expected to be developed in the fall of 2004 and the Transportation Advisory Committee is expected to adopt a final 2006-2012 Program in February, 2005.
Manager’s Recommendation: That the Council adopt the attached Resolution, providing the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Transportation Advisory Committee with the following recommendations:
1. 2006-2012 Chapel Hill Priority List (p. 9).
2. Draft 2006-2012 Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Regional Priority List (p. 11).
3. Transportation Priority List Methodology (p. 25).
4. Transportation Board Recommendation (p. 30).
5. Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board Recommendation (p. 31).
6. Planning Board Recommendation (p. 32).
A RESOLUTION PROVIDING RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON THE DRAFT 2006-2012 REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PRIORITY LIST (2004-03-22/R-15)
WHEREAS, the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Transportation Advisory Committee has prepared a draft 2006-2012 Regional Transportation Priority List; and
WHEREAS, the Transportation Advisory Committee has opened a public comment period on the Draft Priority List;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the following comments be submitted to the Transportation Advisory Committee on the Draft 2006-2012 Regional Priority List.
This the 22nd day of March, 2004.