Agenda - 8-15-16 Reg. Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

of its high ranking in the regional category, the NC 78/Tramway Road project was assigned an additional 100 points at the regional level. 093 At this point in time, we are awaiting NCDOT's statewide release of list of projects that will receive actual Regional Impact funding. In August/September 2016 TARPO will assign its 1400 points in the Divisional category. Finally, in December 2016 NCDOT will release its Draft STIP for public review and comment. It is expected that final approval by the Board of Transportation will take approximately six months and be adopted by June 2017. Typically the construction date of any project that is funded is at least five to ten years out from the date of final approval by the Board of Transportation. Based on this information, it appears that there is a consensus and acknowledgement that NC 78/Tramway Road has a high volume of vehicular traffic and should be widened to better accommodate the ever increasing traffic levels; however, with possible final approval for this project by the Board of Transportation in June of 2017 at the earliest and with the construction date of any project that is funded being typically at least five to ten years out from the date of final approval, this project may begin by the year 2022 at the earliest (which is 6 years out). • Policy for the Installation of Improvements: The board inquired if there were funds available for improvements that are simply requested by a local board. Staff confirmed that there are not funds available for improvements that are simply requested by a local board. In the past, there was money for sidewalk installation, etc. that municipalities could request. At this time, improvements are made either via requesting fund through the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), which is what our Long Range / Transportation Planner does, or are made due to a safety need, based on accident reports and issues within a given area. • Turn -Lane Information: The board requested additional information regarding the right turn lane off of NC 87/Tramway Road that would be required at full build out or Phase 3 of this project. Staff verified that NCDOT would allow the right turn lane to be installed during Phase 1 or Phase 2, but would require it as part of Phase 3. Given that the phasing of this project is market driven, the turn lane may or may not ultimately be installed. Also, if the design changes, this could impact the required improvements. A typical turn lane is 11 ft wide with the length determined by the volume of traffic generated by the project and the volume of traffic on NC 78/Tramway Road. A 2ft paved shoulder may also be included with the turn lane to make it an average of 13ft wide. The right-of-way along Tramway Road in this area is 100ft with the pavement of the roadway being approximately 36ft in width with two traffic lanes and a striped center lane (meaning no traffic in this area) from the Airport Road intersection, back toward the schools for 140ft+, which then transitions into a center turn lane. There is approximately 32ft± of right-of-way in which to construct the turn lane. In this area, there is a street sign for Airport Road, a directional sign for the Emergency Services Training Center and guy wires for an electric pole that would need to be relocated. There is also a storm drain that should either be incorporated into the design or relocated. At this intersection, there is also an electric pole with overhead electric line and fire hydrant that are typically located at the edge of the right-of-way. With 13ft+ of turn lane in a 32ft+