Riding the bus to and from work is a reality for most Chapel Hill residents. But as Orange County continues to grow, serious constraints are put on transportation infrastructure.
This is the premise motivating the Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit Project.
Triangle Transit is working with all transit area planners, city and county staffs and other planning organizations to create a 17.1-mile light-rail line in the year 2025-26.
Patrick McDonough, the manager of planning and transit-oriented development for Triangle Transit, said Durham-Chapel Hill is now one of the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. — ranking at No. 100 for the first time.
“When people talk about population growth in the Triangle, they normally focus on Raleigh and Cary, which is the faster half of the Triangle in growth,” McDonough said.
The light rail would extend from the Jackson Parking Deck by UNC Hospitals to East Alston Avenue in east Durham. The line’s route between these two points has been adjusted multiple times due to environmental impact concerns and other issues raised by town councils and residents.
“Part of the project was looking how to expand travel capacities in areas where highway wideness doesn’t necessarily work out so well,” McDonough said.
Meghan Makoid, environmental planner for Triangle Transit, said that under the National Environmental Policy Act, transportation can’t have an adverse effect of any type of parkland.
“If a use is declared because of the types of impacts (on parkland), then they would make you go with another alternative (to the parkland),” Makoid said.
