SUMMARY MINUTES OF A JOINT MEETING OF THE CHAPEL HILL TOWN
COUNCIL AND REPRESENTATIVES OF THE TRIANGLE TRANSIT AUTHORITY
FRIDAY,
FEBRUARY 5, 1999, AT 7:30 A.M.
Mayor Rosemary Waldorf called the meeting to
order at 7:30 a.m.
Council Members present were Joyce Brown, Flicka
Bateman, Joe Capowski, Pat Evans, Kevin Foy, Julie McClintock, Lee Pavăo, and
Edith Wiggins. Staff members present
were Town Manager Cal Horton, Assistant Town Managers Sonna Loewenthal and
Florentine Miller, Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos, Planning Director Roger
Waldon, Transportation Administrative Analyst Scott McClellan and Town Clerk
Joyce Smith. Triangle Transit Authority
(TTA) representatives present were Rachel Willis and Jim Ritchey. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
representatives present were Jon Howes and Aaron Nelson.
Mayor Waldorf welcomed the TTA representatives.
Mr. Ritchey presented a brief overview of the
current status of TTA projects, specifically regional bus services, buspool
services to outlying communities, and vanpool and ridesharing programs. He stated they were carrying about 2,100
passengers during peak service times using 25 buses. Mr. Ritchey said that they run 3 vans from Efland, Hillsborough
and Mebane into Chapel Hill. He
noted some statistics: regional bus
riders were up over 10%; regional bus miles were up over 2.5%; administrative
expenses fell about 5.6% due to a lawsuit with their bus provider; they
regained half the value of some of the buses due to the settlement; and, the
general fund balance rose 31.5%.
Mr. Ritchey said that the Regional Transit Plan
was in three phases: 1) expanded bus
service, buspool services to outlying communities, and regional rail service to
Durham/RTP/Cary/Raleigh; 2) bus or rail transit service; and 3) regional rail
extensions to outlying communities.
Mr. Ritchey stated that the project faced several
critical issues, including financing.
He said that financing of the project depended upon federal
authorization and annual appropriation, State appropriation and the local share
for Mid-Region and Chapel Hill extensions of the project in Phase II. Mr. Ritchey noted that he had received a
phone call from a Fderal Tansportation Adminisration staff representative who
said that funds had been budgeted to be used for "new start"
projects. He noted that $24 million had
been appropriated thus far: $2 million
for an environmental impact statement; $8 million from Federal Transportation
Administration for right of way, final design, and probably bridge construction. Mr. Ritchey said that he did not believe
that $8 million would be the final appropriation. He noted we would most likely need about $300 million to complete
all phases of the regional transit project.
Mr. Ritchey said that in all financing was going well.
Mr. Ritchey noted that environmental
documentation included finding the right sites for transit stations.
Council Member Foy asked who would sell the
bonds. Mr. Ritchey answered that TTA
might come to the sponsoring governments with a plan so that the governments’
credit rating would assist in selling the bonds. He said TTA would likely sell the bonds and would have a stream
of funds to sell the bonds, using the local governments’ credit ratings to
lower the cost.
Mr. Ritchey reviewed the
implementation schedule for Phase I:
Beginning
date Ending
date
Railroad
Access early
1997 early
2000
Station
Planning
Station Area Development Guidelines late 1996 early 1998
Station Plans late 1998 late
1999
Station Land Use Plans early 1999 mid
2000
Preliminary
Engineering and
Environmental Documentation mid 1998 early
2000
Bus
Services Plan mid
1998 late
1999
Final
Design early
2000 mid
2001
Construction mid
2001
Financing mid
1997 continuing
through 2001
Council Member McClintock asked, regarding
financing for Phase I, if the $50 million was coming from taxes. Mr. Ritchey said it would come from a rental
car tax, including a tax from the rental of trucks.
Mr. Ritchey said that Phase II included a Major
Investment Study of US 15-501 to consider regional rail and busway corridors,
the $224 to $304 million capital cost of the Major Investment Study, daily
ridership of between 6,700 and 9,400 people and potential relocations of
businesses and residents and environmental impacts. He noted that the Major Investment Study had been going on for
two years. Mr. Ritchey said that they
were considering light rail alignments and busway and regional rail
alternatives. He also said that they
were considering the issues of routing at Duke University, the Durham alignment
near South Square, New Hope Creek, and Eastgate, the Orange County alignment
near UNC, and the source of 50% from local, regional, and State shares.
Council Member Brown asked for a definition of
regional rail vehicles and light rail vehicles. Mr. Mr. Ritchey called the Council’s attention to the brochure
handed out at the beginning of the meeting for a clear description.
Mr. Ritchey said there were some real challenges
as to where railroad stations would be placed, such as how to place a station
at Ninth Street near Duke campus, and run it to South Square. He noted exact routing through the Duke
campus was a real challenge, as well as how to get through the South Square
area and how to cross New Hope Creek, due to its environmental sensitivity. Mr. Ritchey said there was development
occurring in the US 15-501 corridor near Eastgate and I-40 that would present
even more challenges. He said that
another significant problem area was the Orange County alignment near UNC, such
as how do we go from Meadowmont into Chapel Hill to the University and
hospitals. Mr. Ritchey also said that
financing of Phase II was a significant challenge. He noted that we must raise about $75 million locally for their
share of the project. Mr. Ritchey said
that they would have to raise an equal amount, or maybe a little more, for the
extension to the RDU airport.
Mayor pro tem Capowski asked if this meant that
the Town would be contributing money in Phase I for the extension to the
airport. Mr. Ritchey answered no. He said that TTA would have to raise around
$150 million locally, with only limited ways to raise that through taxes. Mr. Ritchey said that they would have to
raise $150 million for Phase II, and they must decide how that would be done
through discussions with all involved.
Council Member McClintock asked if that figure
would include land acquisition. Mr.
Ritchey said yes. Council Member
McClintock noted that the figure seemed very low. Mr. Ritchey said that figure had been heavily debated, and noted
the costs would be 50% federal, 25% State, and 25% local.
Mayor Waldorf asked how this money would be
raised. Mr. Ritchey said Phase I would
be financed through a rental car tax, and the problem was raising capital and
operating funds for Phase II.
Council Member Foy asked what options were being
considered. Mr. Ritchey said a sales
tax was being discussed as a possible source.
Mr. Horton asked how much money a 1 cent sales
tax by the County would raise. Mr.
Ritchey said he believed about $1 million a year.
Council Member Brown asked who would have control
over those funds. Mr. Ritchey said most
likely the County Commissioners. He
said traditionally, sales tax dollars had been shared between city and County
dollars, with joint oversight. He said
if that was the case in Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Durham, it would be up to
those governing bodies. He added that
ultimately the General Assembly would have control of those funds.
Mayor pro tem Capowski asked about the timing for
Phase II. Mr. Ritchey said he believed
they would break ground for Phase II in five to six years.
Mayor pro tem Capowski asked about the State's
share of those funds. Mr. Ritchey said
the State would have to come up with its 25% share for both phases.
Mr. Horton noted that some issues might be raised
by Durham and Wake Counties if funds raised in those counties were spent in
Orange County.
Mr. Ritchey said that the next steps included:
use of the new Regional Transportation Model to re-estimate regional rail and
bus rapid transit ridership; development of a financing plan; authorization by
the General Assembly of the local/regional/State share; Metropolitan Planning
Organization adoption of the preferred alternative for the US 15-501 corridor
and approval of Phase II as an element of the fiscally constrained long range
transportation plan; Federal Transportation Administration review and approval
of a request to enter Preliminary Engineering/Environmental Impact Statement
for Phase II; completion of the draft environmental impact statement (2002);
preservation of the corridor; and
design and construction of the extension from Durham to Chapel Hill
(2003-2008).
Mr. Ritchey said, regarding the Regional Bus
Service Expansion, that the bus center would be completed in mid 1999 and
evening and weekend bus service would begin in September 1999. He noted that the expansion would also
include the improvement of on-time performance on existing routes and addition
of new services with 34 new buses. Mr.
Ritchey said that the routes being planned were: from Hillsborough to Durham to
RTP Express; Raleigh/NCSU/Cary/Davis Drive/RTP; Garner/Raleigh with connection
to RTP; Apex to RTP via NC 55; North Raleigh to RTP via 540; and Chapel
Hill/RTP/Raleigh Express.
Council Member Brown asked about routes to the
airport. Mr. Ritchey said they were not
contemplating running buses directly to the airport because they did not
believe there was enough demand. He said
that service would be provided by bus routes to RTP, then by shuttle to the airport.
Council Member Evans asked if the buses would be
able to carry bicycles. Mr. Ritchey
said yes, but storage might be a problem.
Council Member Evans asked if the approval of the
Southpoint development had affected TTA's plans. Mr. Ritchey said they had looked at the bus routing through that
area, and some changes might have to be made in those routes. He said the proper place to consider this
was in the update to the long-range transportation plan.
Council Member McClintock asked about the Major
Investment Study results for ridership which showed disappointingly low
figures, and if it caused a re-evaluation of plans. Mr. Ritchey said estimating the ridership in a future transit
corridor was extremely difficult. He
noted the transportation model would be calibrated against current use. Mr. Ritchey said that he encouraged
consideration of the models as a good guess, but would most likely not be the
final numbers.
Mayor Waldorf said the conservative figures did
not take into account current traffic congestion and other issues, and it was
important to keep in mind peak hour estimates.
Council Member McClintock said the bottom line
was that people had to be willing to get on a bus to travel between Chapel Hill
and other locations, and if it takes an hour, they would not do it. She asked what the incentives were for
Chapel Hill. Council Member McClintock
asked how we could get commuters out of Chapel Hill. Mr. Ritchey said there were four ways: walk, drive, ride a bike,
or take a bus to get to a station. He
said that a combination of local bus services and regional rail would make this
system work. Mr. Ritchey said that the
transit investment provided service in the most congested corridors, which
would not relieve the traffic congestion, but allowed the capacity of the
corridors to last longer.
Council Member McClintock said the bottom line
was that if it takes an hour to get from Chapel Hill to RTP, TTA would not get
their expected ridership.
Mr. Horton said the commute time as compared to the
time it would take a person to drive must be considered. Mr. Ritchey agreed.
Council
Member McClintock asked how long he expected it to take to get from Chapel Hill
to RTP. Mr. Ritchey answered about 40
minutes, with another 20 to 25 minutes to Raleigh. He said the bus today takes 1 1/2 hours to go from Chapel Hill to
RTP to Raleigh.
Mayor Waldorf introduced Mark Ahrendsen and Linda
Convissor.
Jonathan Howes introduced George Alexiou, the
University’s Transportation Consultant.
He noted they had been looking at how transportation could be
accommodated on the University campus.
Mr. Alexiou gave a brief overview of how the main
campus might provide mass transit to and from the campus and how this would fit
into the land planning context. He said
the purpose of the study the University was doing was to discover where the
transit corridors would be and what ripple effect that would cause. Mr. Alexiou used a map of the UNC campus to
demonstrate where rail corridors might be placed and their relationship to
future construction plans for the campus.
He said where these corridors might go must be decided in the near
future. Mr. Alexiou explained the
possible routes not being considered, and how they fit into future plans. He noted where rail structures might be
built to handle the transportation demand, and discussed the possibility of
designating "bus only" travel lanes in some areas. Mr. Alexiou noted that shuttle buses would
serve all stations, so that travel into different areas of the campus would be
possible for those using the mass transit system. He noted the most important aspect of this plan was the actual
rail system on the campus.
Mr. Howes noted this was work in progress, and to
keep in mind its relationship to land use.
Mayor Waldorf said a tentative time to discuss
these issues would be on February 23rd at the 5:30 work session with
UNC.
Council Member Brown said it would be
advantageous to discuss these issues while it was still fresh in the Council's
mind. She asked what the impact on
surrounding neighborhoods would be, and what kind of system could be considered
that would have the least impact on neighborhoods. Mr. Alexiou noted there would have to be some compromises.
Rachel Willis said the goal was to get commuters
from the campus and Chapel Hill to Durham, the RTP, and Raleigh. She briefly described some of the more
congested intersections coming into Chapel Hill and near the campus and the
hospitals.
Mayor pro tem Capowski said if the southern rail
line was built, then the next thing to happen would be that the south campus
would have a bold expansion, and the Horace Williams tract would be
de-emphasized. He said this decision
was very important. Mr. Howes said that
was why he had suggested that this discussion take place within the context of
the land use plan.
Mr. Howes noted that these plans had a
significant impact on the community, and it was now time for construction
information sharing. He noted this was
the first step in a multi-step plan.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 a.m.
The minutes of February 5, 1999 were adopted on the 22nd day of March, 1999.
__________________________________________
Joyce A. Smith, CMC