SUMMARY MINUTES OF A WORK SESSION
OF THE CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL AND
THE UNIVERSITY’S TRANSPORTATION CONSULTANT
MONDAY, APRIL
26, 1999 AT 5:30 P.M.
Mayor pro tem Joe Capowski called the meeting to
order at 5:36 p.m.
Council Members present were Flicka Bateman, Joyce
Brown, Pat Evans, Julie McClintock, and Edith Wiggins. Mayor Rosemary Waldorf
arrived at 5:58 p.m. Council Members
Lee Pavăo and Kevin Foy were absent, excused.
Staff Members present were Town Manager Cal Horton,
Assistant Town Managers Sonna Loewenthal and Florentine Miller, Assistant to
the Manager Ruffin Hall, Transportation Director Bob Godding, Transportation
Planner David Bonk, Long Range Planning Coordinator Chris Berndt, Long Range
Planner Claudia Paine and Town Clerk Joyce Smith.
University representatives present were Jonathan
Howes, Special Assistant to the Chancellor, and George Alexiou, the
University’s Transportation Consultant.
Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) representatives
present were Rachel Willis and Jim Ritchey.
Mr. Howes explained that UNC was considering the
Campus Master Plan within the context of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. He said that it would update the plan
designed 10-12 years ago in order to accommodate anticipated growth as well as
anticipated changes regardless of growth.
Mr. Howes stated that the University strongly supported development of a
regional mass transit system, noting that the 21st century would
require different means of physical connection among communities and campuses
in the Triangle.
Mr. Howes pointed out that parking was, and would
continue to be, limited on campus. He
said that the University did not anticipate being able to accommodate many more
cars in the future on the main campus.
Mr. Howes, noting that road access to the campus was limited, reported
that UNC had explored the idea of devising a corridor that could accommodate
transit coming from the east. He
emphasized that although the Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) would make the
decisions as to what would run on that corridor and what technology would be
used, the Town and University would be party to the decision as well.
Mr. Alexiou, the University’s Transportation
Consultant, reiterated what Mr. Howes said, and emphasized that the University
was engaged in work that began many years ago with the TTA Regional Plan and
then with a Major Investment Study that looked in more detail at a connection
between Durham and Chapel Hill. He
noted that Phase I of that study had developed conceptual drawings that showed
a line coming in from east of the bypass and connecting to the hospitals area.
Mr. Alexiou stressed that the University wanted to
make sure the master plan for a regional transit connection did not exclude
entering the main campus. He explained
that they had looked at the pros and cons of numerous routes over the last six
months, and had arrived at a potential fixed guideway transit route, which he
indicated on a map. Mr. Alexiou said
that this represented UNC’s most current thinking on where they could consider
providing a strip of land on which they would refrain from building because
fixed guideway transit might one day enter the campus along that line.
Mr. Alexiou explained that the University had
reviewed alternatives from transportation, engineering, land use and urban
design perspectives and had concluded that this was probably the most
reasonable right-of-way to reserve. He
said the route would follow the bypass just below the Aycock Family Medicine
Center, continue around the hillside to stop at the Smith Center, and then cut
behind the Smith Center and up to the final station south of Manning Drive near
the east side of the Health Affairs deck now under construction. Mr. Alexiou said that this final stop would
be a distribution center where buses could meet trains and distribute
passengers throughout the campus and the Town.
He noted that passengers would also be able use a pedestrian over-pass,
now under construction in connection with the second Health Affairs deck, and
enter the campus north of Manning Drive.
Mr. Alexiou asked Council Members to keep in mind
that this was a generic plan that kept the guideway totally within University
property. He noted that a major
investment study would consider in detail issues such as noise, land use and natural
environment impacts, and would do so in public forums. Mr. Alexiou pointed out that the need for
federal and State funding would trigger all sorts of regulatory requirements,
including an environmental impact statement, which would be more detailed than
the University’s own study.
Mr. Alexiou said that the fixed guideway was just
one, though important, element of transportation planning. He emphasized the need to look at other
alternatives, and emphasized that park and ride lots would be a major component. Mr. Alexiou noted six locations around Town that could serve as additional park and
ride lots: the intersection of I-40 and Highway 54, on 15/501, at Horace Williams,
two on 15/501 south of Chapel Hill, and one near Governor’s Village.
Council Member Brown said that she had heard that
the University would be more involved in where mass transit would be placed but
not necessarily in what the technology would be. She then asked what plans the University had for the Horace
Williams tract. Mr. Howes replied that
there was a railway to the Horace Williams land but said that he could only
speculate on whether or not that railway could be used. He noted that there would be many more
possibilities with other technologies, adding that the plan that Mr. Alexiou
had just outlined was “about as far as one can go with rail.”
Council Member Brown asked the speakers to discuss
the various possible technologies. Mr.
Howes replied that there were several possibilities being examined.
Council Member McClintock said that the discussion
did need to include options because the University would need more width for
the corridor if a railway was used, adding that the Council needed to know the
thinking that had gone into this proposal because the plan would go through
some Town neighborhoods. Mr. Alexiou
replied that the amount of land needed for rail technology was not necessarily
more than was needed for bus technology.
Mr. Howes said that the technology question was one
that needed to be addressed by at least three local parties together—the
University, the Town and TTA. He said
that it should start with TTA because they were the regional transit system
provider.
Council Member Brown noted that the Council needed
to make decisions based on neighborhood and environmental protection and must
have enough information to give instructions to TTA as to Town goals.
Mr. Alexiou stated that his team had taken direction
totally from the Major Investment Study (MIS) process. He said that they were not trying to
supplant that process, but were trying to adapt to it and be flexible enough to
accommodate how that process developed over the next year or so. Mr. Alexiou
noted that the Town was more involved in that process than the University was,
adding that the question should be directed to the steering committee.
Council Member Brown expressed appreciation for that
and stressed that they needed to keep each other informed. Mr. Howes also commented that the MIS
process was where such issues were to be resolved.
Council Member Evans asked if the University was
planning to provide additional park and ride lots. Mr. Alexiou replied that the University would cooperate with the
Town in doing that, noting that the Town was eligible to receive 80% funding
for those kinds of facilities while the University was not.
Mayor Waldorf said that the Town was also eligible
to get a 10% State and 10% local match.
She said that it would be lovely if the University would share the 10%
local match with the Town. Mr. Howes replied
that this would be built on University property, and wondered what the value of
that land might be. Mr. Horton pointed
out that the University participated in the Town’s build-up its local capital
reserve to pay for buses, or land, or development of a parking facility.
Council Member McClintock predicted that the Town
would become dependent on a well developed bus system because it would not be
able to afford the rail system. She
said that if this were true then the Chapel Hill transit system would need the
University’s cooperation and support to expand.
Mayor pro tem Capowski asked if the rail line would
need to be elevated at any point. Mr.
Alexiou replied that there would be a couple of bridges.
Mayor pro tem Capowski asked if there had been any
discussion about extending the current rail line from Horace Williams to
Carrboro to the power plant and then further east in the vicinity of the
Carolina Inn. Mr. Alexiou replied that
they were not looking at that.
Mayor Waldorf said that she had understood that the
University was concerned with transit service on its property and that where
the property ended it became a Town decision.
Mr. Howes agreed.
Mayor pro tem Capowski, noting that there would be
an increase in the total number of students, asked if the University could
assure the Town that there would be long-term car storage for students
somewhere on University property. Mr.
Howes said that current policy was that most students were not allowed to park
their cars on campus. He added that the
University provided storage for them and that policy would stay in effect.
Council Member Brown noted that the University’s
ideas might change if the MIS came up with a bus system. Mr. Howes agreed.
Council Member Evans asked if there was enough space
next to the hospital parking deck for a multi-modal facility, which would
include shuttle buses and taxis. Both
Mr. Howes and Mr. Alexiou agreed that there would space for such a facility at
the terminal point.
Council Member McClintock asked about the
University’s intentions in dealing with the neighborhoods along Mason Farm
Road. Mr. Howes replied that a number
of neighborhood residents had been invited to join in the process as the
University went through alternate designs.
He said there would be a community meeting in May and the University
planned to take the neighbors’ views into account.
Council Member McClintock asked if the University
was willing to use the Power of Imminent Domain. Mr. Howes replied that this was not even on the table for
discussion at the moment.
Council Member McClintock asked Transportation
Planner David Bonk what the latest MIS thinking was on where the connection
would come in from Durham. Mr. Bonk
replied that the corridor being discussed was accurately depicted as Corridor
A. He said that, as part of Phase II of
the study, the MIS would also evaluate Corridor B, which would use the center
of the 15/501 right-of-way on the Fordham bypass down to Corridor A and then
follow the same alignment as Corridor A to campus. Mr. Bonk explained that the third evaluation would be on a hybrid
of A and B, taking the best elements of each.
Council Member McClintock said that one option,
then, would be to come down 15/501 and cut into the campus and the other option
would be to cut inland east of 15/501. She asked where that would cut in. Mr. Bonk explained that it would cross NC 54
at Meadowmont Lane and then parallel NC 54 until it got to the point shown on
the map.
Council Member McClintock asked what the hybrid
might be. Mr. Bonk replied that it
would utilize elements of Corridors A & B. He said, for example, Corridor A would have a far greater impact
in the South Square area than Corridor B would, so, they might use Corridor B
coming out of South Square, and then use the center of the 15/501 corridor and
cross New Hope Creek along the existing bridge (instead of building a new
bridge), and then shift to Corridor A south of 15/501 just past new Hope Creek
and cut south toward Meadowmont and come into Town along NC 54 up toward
Manning Drive.
Mayor Waldorf asked if Manning Drive had been
eliminated as a fixed guideway bus corridor.
Mr. Alexiou replied that there would be buses running on Manning Drive,
but that one of the lanes could be striped during peak periods as a bus only
lane. He said, depending on how much
investment and how critical it was to get the minimum travel time, buses could
run on what ranges from an exclusive track, similar to a rail track, to a regular
lane. Mr. Alexiou added that a bus line
would not necessarily need a terminus at the decks but could go into Town with
some possibly going up South Road.
Mayor Waldorf asked if it could be a dedicated
highway whether it was fixed guideway or not.
Mr. Alexiou replied that that was one option, but noted that the bypass
was a formidable barrier.
Mayor pro tem Capowski asked if the University had
any plans for new roads or realignment of existing roads in or adjacent to the
triangle of land south of campus. Mr.
Alexiou replied that the only thing that had been discussed regarding that area
was the possibility of a new access road from the bypass onto the road system
north of Mason Farm Road.
Mayor Waldorf commented that it was important for
all to work together to create a regional system because many people were
having difficulty getting around the region.
She asked the TTA representatives if they were looking into the
possibility of making the system a combination of fixed guideway buses and feeder
buses within municipalities. Mayor
Waldorf expressed her personal commitment to coming up with a system that
worked and a plan that the entire region would participate in. She said that she disliked the idea of the
region participating in Phase I but not in Phase II. Rachel Willis, Chapel Hill’s representative to TTA, said that TTA
was looking at many possibilities. She
said that she had asked for a potential fixed guideway corridor, had stressed
not closing off the Town’s regional connectivity, and had emphasized coming up
with a corridor that enabled the most restrictive rail technology. Ms. Willis said that she had asked for a
corridor that was wide enough, and a road/bike/pedestrian system that was
coherent enough where that fixed point ridership was, to accommodate the most
restrictive regional rail technology that still enabled Chapel Hill to be
connected to the rest of the region.
Ms. Willis, explaining that the TTA was not even at preliminary
decisions about Phase II, stressed the importance of obtaining the corridor
outlined by the University.
Mayor Waldorf said that there was no argument from
the Council with regard to the dedication of these corridors.
Council Member Evans added that either we plan for
the future or we lock ourselves into the present.
Mayor Waldorf emphasized that UNC, Duke University,
Chapel Hill, TTA, and Durham had to do a better job of working together. She
said that so far they had been successful but noted they were beginning to
experience difficulty. Mayor Waldorf
suggested that when trying to decide where mass transit should stop it might be
as important to think about where it would go from there.
Ms. Willis stated that the Town should not
underestimate the quality of the relationship it had with the University, which
was working hard to accommodate the Town’s needs on transportation
planning. She said that Corridor A
enabled the Town to take care of its major traffic problems, which were peak
hour traffic and event traffic.
Council Member McClintock expressed doubt that fixed
guideways would happen in Chapel Hill, and suggested considering other
options. She also expressed cynicism
about buses with too many mode switches, but added that, if buses seemed like
the most practical and feasible solution, then the Town needed to start now to
put building blocks in place in order to have an express bus system built
before reaching gridlock.
Ms. Willis explained that TTA should have a bus
maintenance facility on RDU property near the 540/I-40 interchange completed by
mid-June. She said that they also were
in the midst of acquiring another major fleet of buses and had plans for a
service expansion that included express service from Chapel Hill to RTP and to
Raleigh. Ms. Willis noted that this did
not include the mode switches that Council Member McClintock was concerned
about.
Council Member McClintock stated that having a park
and ride lot at Meadowmont was not going to help Chapel Hill residents who were
trying to go east unless they lived close to that point. She added that the Town needed to think
about park and ride lots to the north and in other parts of Town. Council Member McClintock said that she had
not seen these plans in any of the material that the TTA had distributed.
Mr. Ritchey replied that TTA had written to the Council
last fall and asked for comments on the bus expansion plans that were
underway. He explained that there would
be an expansion from 20 to 54 peak-hour buses over the next 18 months, and
pointed out that there would be express routes running from Carrboro into
Chapel Hill and on to the Research Triangle Park. Mr. Ritchey also explained that there was a bus route from
Hillsborough to Duke University. He
said that TTA had not planned for additional buses to run from the northern
part of Chapel Hill, but would welcome the Town’s comments on bus routing.
There was some discussion among Council Members and
Mr. Ritchey over whether or not Council Members’ comments had been forwarded to
him regarding bus service for the northern part of Chapel Hill. Mr. Ritchey commented that bus service was a
critical component of TTA’s current operation, adding that it would be just as
critical when the 2004 Phase I Regional Rail System opened. He said that TTA would soon present a draft
environmental impact statement with a full design and write-up.
Council Member McClintock said that the Town needed
to provide input, and expressed regret that the input she thought she had given
had not been forwarded. She commented
that it was not too soon to figure out where the people were who were trying to
get to work and other places and where the pick-up points and stops needed to
be.
Mr. Ritchey explained that part of TTA’s dilemma was
that financing of the bus service came from the $5.00 vehicle registration fee,
which generated only $4 million per year.
He explained that TTA was financing the rail system from the rental car
tax, which was sufficient to pay for Phase I improvements. Mr. Ritchey noted that, at this point, TTA
had budget constraints on how much bus service it could offer. He noted that the plan was that Orange
County would receive a higher level of bus service than Wake or Durham Counties
because it would not have rail service.
Council Member McClintock asked what the intended
mechanism of funding was for the larger bus system. Ms. Willis explained that as Raleigh and Durham got rail service
then the plan called for a disproportionate reallocation of bus services to
Chapel Hill. Mr. Ritchey added that
Chapel Hill already received 22% of the services but paid only 11% of the
taxes. He added, though, that this was
not disproportionate to the regional system because more people from Chapel
Hill used buses.
Council Member Evans asked if TTA was looking at a
bus system that would make few stops.
Mr. Ritchey replied that NCDOT had engaged a consultant to begin looking
at a high occupancy vehicle study in the Interstate 40 corridor. He said he expected to see some response in
six months, and noted that it would be oxymoronic right now to call a bus on
Interstate 40 an express bus.
Mayor pro tem Capowski noted that there was no way
for a Chapel Hillian to get to RDU Airport without having to change buses. Mr. Ritchey replied that this was true for
citizens in all towns in the Triangle because all airport buses go to
Governor’s Inn and people must change buses there. He explained that this part of the system was unlikely to change
because there was not enough demand for bus service to the Airport.
Mayor Waldorf thanked Ms. Willis and Mr. Ritchey for
coming and for their work. She said
that she hoped they felt free to approach the Council if there were decisions
that the Council needed to participate in.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:52 p.m.
The minutes of
April 26, 1999 were adopted on the 14th day of June, 1999.
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