Amidst uncertainty about federal funding and potential engineering obstacles, the Orange County Board of Commissioners unanimously signed a letter Tuesday night affirming the county’s $149.5 million commitment to the Durham-Orange Light Rail project.
The letter also communicated Durham’s $57.6 million offer to offset lost state funding after a revised General Assembly budget reduced the state’s contribution cap from $247.6 million to $190 million.
Commissioner Earl McKee expressed concern about unexpected infrastructure costs — in particular, a new estimate of $90 million to elevate the track near Duke University. John Tallmadge, GoTriangle’s interim project director, said they intend to cover the cost by using more efficient techniques.
“I would not expect Durham to be as gracious as they have been — I understand the benefit to Durham is greater than the benefit to Orange, and they’ve been generous to pick up this shortfall, but I’m not sure they can pick up another,” McKee said. “I’m worried we’re going to run into a situation that cannot be fixed by value engineering.”
According to WRAL, approximately $88 million has already been spent on local planning for the light-rail project. Board Chairperson Mark Dorosin expressed the county’s caution with future cost-estimates and said Durham’s offer to cover lost funding has been critical in securing private funds.
“We’re all careful stewards about the cost of this project and how we move forward,” Dorosin said. “Talks with Durham were very encouraging this summer and having this resolved is critical in private fundraising discussions. At each step of this project, all of us are looking at this critically and making sure it works for residents and the community.”
The revised General Assembly budget requires the Durham-Orange Light Rail to secure federal funding by November 2019, or else the state would permanently withdraw their $190 million commitment.
GoTriangle’s plan to secure 50 percent of the project’s funds through the Federal Transit Administration may be a challenge — the Trump Administration’s new FTA fiscal policy states they will not recommend funding for new projects in 2019, encouraging transit projects to be funded wholly by localities and private firms.
In the FTA’s list of New Starts Engineering projects, which rates projects based on their level of funding and necessity, the Orange-Durham Light Rail is the lowest ranked among five competitors, earning a “Medium” overall rating — the minimum to be considered for federal funds.
