Title
2040 MTP Amendment #2 - Chapel Hill BRT -- (10 minutes)
Andy Henry, LPA Staff
Narrative
The MPO Board released Amendment #2 at their August meeting and conducted a public hearing at their September meeting. The Amendment changes references to the Chapel Hill BRT to make it clear that the route extends to Southern Village. The MPO did not receive any public comments on this item. The public comment period ended September 26th and thereby complied with the minimum 42-day public comment period set forth in the MPO public involvement policy.
The changes in this amendment, which are shown in the relevant pages of Chapter 7 and Appendices 2 and 3 on Exhibit A of the attached resolution, are based on the Locally Preferred Alternative for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in the North-South corridor. Chapel Hill Town Council adopted the LPA in April 2016. The purpose of this amendment is to support the Town's Small Starts application process, which is to begin in September 2016. The estimated cost increase for the Chapel Hill BRT, approximately $62 million, is a fraction of the $6.8 billion total MTP cost. The 2040 MTP also had a surplus of $67 million that can cover the cost increase related to this project. There are several, coordinated efforts underway to update the transit portion of the MTP financial plan, including: Go Triangle efforts to identify additional light rail and transit revenue sources -- (complete by January 2017); update of the Bus and Rail Investment Plans for Durham and Orange counties (complete by April 2017); and, adoption of the 2045 MTP (including the financial plan -- complete by September 2017).
Additional background information can be found at the following MPO Web page: http://www.dchcmpo.org/programs/transport/2040mtp/default.asp.
Recommendation
TC Recommendation: Provide comments and recommend that the MPO Board approve Amendment #2 to the 2040 MTP to advance the project in the federal process.
Board Action: Approve Amendm...
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