Planning & Transportation

Special Transit Advisory Commission releases planning blueprint

The Special Transit Advisory Commission (STAC) is made up of citizens and transportation specialists from throughout the Triangle area. The Capital Area MPO (CAMPO) and the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO (DCHC-MPO) have formed this advisory board to come up with a new set of transit and fixed-guideway (rail) plans to bring more and better transit options to the Triangle region. The report, with recommendations and some terrific maps of the options, is available for download from the Regional Transit Infrastructure Blueprint page.

I saw a presentation on this report last night from Triangle J Council of Governments (TJCOG), and I can't wait for a chance to read it carefully. I look forward to hearing your comments and questions as well, and would be happy to forward them to TJCOG, which is one of the report-generating entities which worked with the STAC in generating studies and gathering data.

County Commissioner's Comp Plan Work Session

This Tuesday, June 10, the County Commissioners will hold a work session with the planning board to discuss the proposed comphrehensive plan update. The meeting begins at 7:30pm and will be held at the Link Government Services Center, 200 S. Cameron St., Hillsborough. The work session will be the first public meeting at which the commissioners will scrutinize the plan, which has been under development since October 2006 and runs nearly 300 pages. The commissioners decided to schedule the work session because they recognized the need to closely examine the proposal before they referred it to the county planning board for their recommendation. For more information see the county's comp plan website and the website of the Orange County Comprehensive Plan Coalition.

Date: 

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 3:30pm

Location: 

Link Government Services Center, 200 S. Cameron St., Hillsborough

Commissioners and Planning Board discuss draft Comprehensive Plan

This Tuesday, June 10, the County Commissioners will hold a work session with the planning board to discuss the proposed comprehensive plan update. Although the plan has been under development since October 2006, the work session will be the first public meeting at which the commissioners will scrutinize the plan. The work session begins at 7:30pm and will be held at the Link Government Services Center, 200 S. Cameron St., Hillsborough.

Endangered pedestrians

With this weekend's bad news, Chapel Hill's pedestrian death toll rises to THREE in the past month. May 17: Barbara Boone Sims was killed crossing Weaver Dairy Road at Perkins Drive, May 15: Lisa Carolyn Moran was fatally hit by a bus on Manning Drive near UNC Hospital, April 27: Clifton Walker Steed was killed crossing MLK Blvd at Hillsborough Street. All were killed within a block of the NC 86 corridor (South Columbia Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard).

I know the Town has studied the MLK portion of the corridor and proposed some pedestrian improvements (PDF report), but none have been implemented yet as far as I know. We also need to remember that crosswalks don't exist in a vacuum, we need safe sidewalks, well-lit bus shelters, adequate bike lanes, and much more.

Make Orange County More Sustainable by Equitably Balancing Development and Environmental Protection

This Monday at 7:30 p.m. the county commissioners and planning board will be conducting a public hearing at the courthouse in Hillsborough on the proposed comprehensive plan update. Ideally, the plan will firmly establish the county on a path toward sustainability that balances environmental health, social equity, and economic vitality. The draft plan can be accessed from http://www.co.orange.nc.us/planning/compre_cpupdate.asp.

In the first chapter many encouraging phrases are found such as: "Mixed-use districts are being actively encouraged, and locations are being identified, providing live-work-shop opportunities that minimize travel needs ... (T)he identification of growth opportunity areas near transit corridors and along major thoroughfares encourages more public transportation use by County residents. ... (P)lacing public water and sewer facilities near areas targeted for dense development can reinforce a more sustainable land use pattern ... (P)ublic investment will be focused to stimulate and accommodate (economic) development in strategic locations that can be served by transportation systems and be convenient to housing opportunities."

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