Orange County light rail proposal arises

Orange County officials are exploring a new route along U.S. 15-501 for a proposed light rail as the deadline to approve a final route approaches, but planners say it might not be practical.

Triangle Transit has already completed a more than two-year-long alternatives analysis of the first two proposed Durham-Chapel Hill routes, Brad Schulz, spokesman for Triangle Transit, said in an email.

One of the routes would run through Meadowmont and across a section of Little Creek Bottomlands, while the other would follow N.C. 54 through Hillmont.

Schulz said if the county decides to abandon the recommended route and revisit one on U.S. 15-501, the federal government would require a new study.

“The new study could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and cause delays of up to two years in getting the project to the voters,” Schulz said.

He said the delay could also jeopardize the county’s share of federal funding for the light rail — and the change comes late in the game. Triangle Transit has already submitted its recommendation for the N.C. 54 route to the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization for a final vote this Wednesday.

“The group voted nearly unanimously in favor of the recommendation of N.C. 54, including positive votes from Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and Durham representatives,” Schulz said.

But at the Jan. 24 Orange County Board of Commissioners meeting, officials said they want to revisit the U.S. 15-501 route, which was originally proposed with the other two routes in 1998.

Some residents and officials have said they want to ensure all options, including the U.S. 15-501 route, are looked at for environmental and other concerns.

“It shouldn’t come as a surprise that an inadequate alternatives analysis study has left a lot of important questions unresolved,” resident John Wilson said.

Ellen Beckmann, a transportation planner from the Metropolitan Planning Organization, said the U.S. 15-501 route was looked into and rejected.

“Then the decision was made that 54 was more viable for technical reasons,” she said.

She said Metropolitan Planning Organization planners haven’t been told to look into the third alternative while Triangle Transit planners have been.

County Manager Frank Clifton said the U.S. 15-501 route is worth reconsideration because much has changed since the original proposal, including land use rules.

“Several land use considerations have changed along with economic factors that might be worth validation,” he said in an email.

But Commissioner Barry Jacobs said he worries the U.S. 15-501 route could hurt Orange County’s economy.

“Many of the shopping magnets are in Durham County, so we would just be expediting the process of citizens taking their sales tax revenue elsewhere,” he said.

Schulz said without action by the county, Triangle Transit will stand by its recommendation to the Metropolitan Planning Organization of the N.C. 54 route.

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