Title
Chapel Hill North-South Bus Rapid Transit Locally Preferred Alternative (15 minutes)
Matt Cecil, Chapel Hill Transit
Narrative
The North-South Bus Rapid Transit (NSBRT) project supports the goals of Chapel Hill 2020, which calls for improved transit service on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. In April of 2016, the Chapel Hill Town Council approved the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for the NSBRT project with three options: 1) constructing a dedicated curb lane or 2) constructing a dedicated center lane north of North Street to the Eubanks Road park and ride lot, and either constructing or converting dedicated curb lanes between Estes Drive and North Street.
During environmental and preliminary design, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recommended selecting a preferred running-way for the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard section between Eubanks Road and North Drive. With guidance from FTA and the Transit Partners Committee, the Consultant Team (AECOM) analyzed the options for this section of the corridor in coordination with the NSBRT Technical and Policy Committees.
In January of 2019 Chapel Hill Town Council provided an update to the LPA selecting to remove the center running guideway, option and conduct a traffic analysis on the northern portion of the NSBRT corridor extending from North Street to Eubanks Drive to better inform the construct vs. convert decision. NSBRT project staff collaborated with NCDOT representatives in performing the analysis, with continued guidance from the FTA, Transit Partners Committee, Consultant Team (AECOM), Technical and Policy Committees.
Recommendation
TC Action: Recommended adoption of the resolution to amend the LPA for NSBRT.
Board Action
Board Action: Adopt the resolution to amend the LPA for NSBRT.