TITLE: Title
North-South Corridor Study Presentation
PURPOSE: The purpose of this item is for the Board of Aldermen to receive a presentation from Chapel Hill Transit staff and consultants on the status of the North-South Corridor Study on Bus Rapid Transit in Chapel Hill.
body
DEPARTMENT: Planning
CONTACT INFORMATION: Bergen Watterson, Transportation Planner - 919-918-7329, bwatterson@townofcarrboro.org
INFORMATION: Chapel Hill Transit has been working on a feasibility study for Bus Rapid Transit along 15-501 and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. corridor (N-S Corridor) since January of 2014. Town staff and representatives from the Board of Aldermen have been involved in the project through Chapel Hill Transit Partners, technical committee and policy committee meetings.
Chapel Hill Transit staff and consultants will provide a presentation on the status of the North-South Corridor Study and preliminary recommendations that include six alternatives. All six alternatives assume Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The goal is to receive feedback from the Board of Aldermen on these alternatives.
The same six alternatives were presented to the Chapel Hill Transit Partners on October 27th and the Chapel Hill Town Council on November 9th. This information will also be provided to UNC and shared with the public at open houses in early December.
Using the combined feedback from various stakeholders, the project team will develop the final Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) recommendation. The committees will review the recommendation and forward it to the Chapel Hill Transit Partners for consideration. Assuming the project timeline does not change, the Partners will review and recommend the final LPA to the Town Council at the January meeting.
It is important to note that this study is the first step in the federal process. It is a feasibility study to determine if the project is viable for further examination. Future phases (beyond the current study) would include detailed engineering, traffic and environmental work.
FISCAL & STAFF IMPACT: Receiving the report and providing feedback have no fiscal impact, and require minor staff time. Depending on the nature of the final LPA and federal approval of the project, non-federal funds will be necessary to support project implementation, but the amount and the source of these funds are unknown at this point.
RECOMMENDATION:r Staff recommends that the Board receive the presentation and provide feedback on the six alternatives.