McCrory not sold on Durham-Orange light rail plan

The fate of the proposed Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit Project might be in jeopardy after state officials expressed reservations about funding the controversial project.

The proposed 17.3 mile light rail would connect UNC Hospitals to East Durham via N.C. Highway 54.

At a press conference with the N.C. Metropolitan Mayors Coalition on March 5, Gov. Pat McCrory said he supported mass transit, as long as the state has a workable plan to fund it and it would alleviate congestion.

Critics of the project — who have argued that Orange County does not have the population density to support a light rail and that the rail ignores rural residents of the county — do not believe the light rail will fit those requirements.

According to the investment plan for the light rail, 25 percent of the capital costs for the project will be paid by Orange County, 25 percent by the state government and 50 percent by the federal government.

Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton, who supports the light rail, said local governments had to prove they could provide 25 percent of the funding before federal and state governments would commit.

He said the county’s approval of a half-cent sales tax increase in November was a crucial step in moving the project forward.

The half-cent tax will generate about $5 million a year, and county officials hope to use it to finance part of the $1.4 billion light rail project.

Orange County must come up with at least $316.2 million to begin construction on the rail.

“The feds have been waiting for the signal from the local governments that our piece is going to be there,” Chilton said. “With the referendum that was last year, that has been demonstrated.”

Chilton said he believes state funding will come through, but not until after federal government decides to fund the project.

“I think the state government is quite reasonably taking a wait-and-see approach,” he said.

But Orange County Commissioner Earl McKee, who opposes the light rail project, said he isn’t sure the state government is still on board with financing the project.

McKee said McCrory’s condition of reducing congestion would not be met with the current light rail plan.

“I do not believe that the funding for the light rail will come through,” he said. “I do not believe that we have the population or the tax base to support it.”

McKee said he thinks the funds would be better spent on expanding the current bus system.

“We do not have the nights and weekend hours that we need currently,” he said. “Nor do we have a truly regional bus system at this time.”

Bonnie Hauser, president of the rural advocacy organization Orange County Voice, also said the money could be better spent.

“The way I interpreted the state’s comments was that the leanings seemed to be not in favor of the state funding the light rail,” she said.

“What I’m not in favor of is taking most of our transit money and putting it into a couple miles of light rail.”

But Chilton said the project is needed.

“As energy resources become more scarce, we’ve got to transition to a more sustainable transportation system,” he said.

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.