County might receive federal clean-air funds

A new transportation initiative might be possible in Orange County thanks to funding from a federal air-quality program.

At Monday's Orange County Board of Commissioners meeting, members heard a presentation regarding a county transportation project plan and how funds from the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program could be used for the project.

The initiative provides money to various transit organizations to use in projects that will reduce pollution by lowering transportation-related emissions.

CMAQ's Web site states that areas are eligible to receive funding if they have a demonstrated problem with air quality.

"In April of this year we were designated as a nonattainment area for ozone," said county transportation planner Karen Lincoln.

The plan centers on reducing traffic in downtown Hillsborough and connecting the rural and urban areas of the county.

"What our interest is is to develop a park-and-ride lot at the fringe of some of the rural areas, where the rural areas enter the urban areas," said county Planning Director Craig Benedict.

The Hillsborough lot would funnel people into services provided by the county, he said.

Benedict said traffic in historic Hillsborough is a motivating issue behind the project. He added that an expansion of the county's judicial facilities, located in downtown Hillsborough, will bring additional congestion to the area.

The park-and-ride service would specifically handle riders in Hillsborough and would have a transfer point where riders could access other bus routes provided by the county or region, Benedict said.

"We're trying to limit traffic in downtown Hillsborough," Lincoln said.

She said the expansion of facilities would bring in many people from outside the area and would eliminate some of the town's available parking.

The county is eligible to receive CMAQ program funding from two sources.

The Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization will allocate about $7 million over seven years with funds from the program.

Chapel Hill and Carrboro are also eligible to receive the funds.

The Triangle Area Rural Planning Organization, which includes parts of Orange and Chatham counties, also will make funds available to the county, Benedict said. The organization will receive about $480,000 from the CMAQ program.

The county is still in the early planning stages of the park-and-ride proposal and needs to determine how much the program would reduce emissions and how much it would cost, Lincoln said.

The commissioners will have to approve the final project.

Applications for CMAQ funding must be turned in to the North Carolina Department of Transportation by Jan. 24.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.