TITLE: Title
Comments on the DCHC-MPO Comprehensive Transportation Plan
PURPOSE: The purpose of this agenda item is to approve comments that will be forwarded to the MPO Board on the draft Comprehensive Transportation Plan.
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DEPARTMENT: Planning
CONTACT INFORMATION: Bergen Watterson, 919-918-7329, bwatterson@townofcarrboro.org <mailto:bwatterson@townofcarrboro.org>; Tina Moon, 919-918-7325, cmoon@townofcarrboro.org <mailto:cmoon@townofcarrboro.org>
INFORMATION: The Board of Aldermen received a presentation on the draft Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) at its January 17, 2017 regular meeting. A summary of the CTP, its role in transportation planning and Board questions and answers are provided in the attached memorandum (Attachment B). Staff has been working with Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO (DCHC-MPO) and North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) staff to create the CTP and to ensure that Carrboro’s transportation needs are accurately reflected. The draft CTP may be found on NCDOT’s website at the following link: <https://connect.ncdot.gov/projects/planning/Pages/CTP-Details.aspx?study_id=Durham-Chapel%20Hill-Carrboro>.
The CTP is designed to serve as the first step in the long-range transportation planning process to identify future improvements for funding through the SPOT process as well as to determine consistency in the development process. Most of the jurisdictions in the DCHC-MPO currently use an adopted Thoroughfare Plan for this purpose; the Town of Carrboro uses the Thoroughfare Plan and other adopted plans. The CTP is designed to replace local Thoroughfare plans.
Public comments on the plan will be accepted through February 24, 2017. Comments received, to date, may be found on DCHC-MPO’s website at the following link: <http://www.dchcmpo.org/programs/ctp/default.asp>. The DCHC-MPO Board is expected to adopt the CTP in March 2017 and NCDOT in April 2017.
A resolution, designed to reflect Board comment at the January meeting has been provided (Attachment A). A one-page summary sheet identifying Orange County Transit Plan benefits to Carrboro citizens has been also provided (Attachment E).
FISCAL & STAFF IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact associated with submitting comments on the CTP. Future impacts, dependent on the inclusion of transportation projects in the adopted CTP, will be brought back to the Board for individual consideration at future meetings.
RECOMMENDATION:r Staff recommends that the Board of Aldermen approve the resolution authorizing the submittal of comments on the draft CTP.