What: Public Hearing, Public Workshops, and Comment Period for the 2040 Metropolitan Transportation Plan Alternative Analysis Report
Who: Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO)
When: Public Hearing:
• Wednesday, September 12, 2012, at 9 a.m., Durham City Hall, Committee Room, 101 City Hall Plaza, Durham
Public Workshops:
• Thursday, September 13, 2012, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Town Barn on Town Hall Campus, 101 E. Orange St., Hillsborough
• Tuesday, September 18, 2012, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Durham Station Transportation Center, 515 W. Pettigrew St., Durham
• Thursday, September 20, 2012, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Chapel Hill Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill
Public Comment Period Ends:
• Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Fast Facts:
• The DCHC MPO, which programs state and federal transportation projects for Durham County and parts of Orange and Chatham counties, is requesting public feedback on the transportation alternatives for the region that consider future highway, bus transit, rail transit, bicycle, pedestrian and other transportation projects to be implemented through the year 2040.
• The 2040 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) is the guide for major transportation investments in the DCHC MPO area. The plan recommends major transportation projects, policies, and strategies designed to maintain existing transportation systems and serve the region's future travel needs. The 2040 MTP is also designed to support land use and air quality goals for the urban area, and must be prepared in accordance with federal transportation and environmental requirements. Projects must be in the 2040 MTP to receive state and federal transportation funding in the North Carolina Transportation Improvement Program.
• As part of this plan, the DCHC MPO has developed “alternatives,” which are a combination of a transportation network, which includes a set of highway, transit and other transportation improvements, and a land use scenario that depicts the distribution of population and employment for the year 2040. These alternatives are run in the triangle regional model to produce a set of transportation performance measures that describe how well the alternatives meet future travel demand. This report provides background and a project detail to understand the alternatives, and maps and tables of transportation statistics to evaluate how well a specific alternative meets the future travel demand. In addition to this report, the DCHC MPO will develop some project specific analysis, such as a brief analysis on Southwest Durham Drive, and will post those additions in this section over the next two months.
• Residents are encouraged to provide feedback and offer input on the proposed alternatives in a number of ways to elected officials. Public workshops are scheduled in Durham and Orange counties and residents are encouraged to attend these drop-in sessions anytime during the three-hour periods. A public hearing will also be held by the DCHC MPO Transportation Advisory Committee, which is primarily comprised of local elected officials. Persons with disabilities will be accommodated at the public hearing, but are asked to request provisions at least 48 hours in advance.
• The alternative analysis plans, maps, reports, and different options to provide feedback are now available at the DCHC MPO website at www.dchcmpo.org in the “Alternatives Analysis” section.
• After the public comment period ends in mid-October, the next major step in the 2040 MTP development process is to use the evaluation and comparison of the alternatives to create a single alternative that best meets the MPO’s goals and objectives and the fiscal constraint requirements. This final alternative is called the preferred option, and it will also go through a public review process similar to that of the alternatives.
• Questions or comments can be sent to Andy Henry, transportation planner with the DCHC MPO, by Wednesday, October 10, 2012. He can be reached by email at Andrew.Henry@DurhamNC.gov, by phone at (919) 560-4366, ext. 36419, or by mail to City of Durham Transportation Department, 101 City Hall Plaza, Durham, N.C. 27701.
About the City’s Transportation Department
The Transportation Department is responsible for a broad range of transportation services, which include traffic signs and signals, transportation planning, parking operations, street lighting, the taxicab administration and bicycle and pedestrian planning. The City’s Transportation Department also oversees the Durham Area Transit Authority (DATA) public transportation system as well as the DATA ACCESS service for persons with disabilities. The City of Durham leads planning functions for the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO). The City’s Transportation Department helps to strengthen the foundation, enhance the value, and improve the quality and sustainability of neighborhoods that are necessary for a strong and diverse community. For more information, visit http://durhamnc.gov/ich/op/dot.