Think that Council's gotten an easy go of things the last couple of Monday night public meetings? Not many items on the agenda, and certainly not many controversial items at that? Well, this week's work session agenda makes up for it, chock-a-block as it is with a wide range of important and sometimes hot-button issues.
Turnage Heights: D&L Parts may have decided not to use the warehouse on Morreene Rd. that somehow found its way into the Commercial Neighborhood zoning district during the waning days of former Planning director Frank Duke. But the half-built warehouse is still there, and the neighbors are still there -- and they're looking for Council to do something.
Specifically, look for the Preserve Morreene Road group (whose web page's title is "Tear Down The Warehouse!") to ask Council to order the teardown of the partially-built structure, and to ask that the permitting process for Commercial Neighborhood zoning be changed to require neighborhood endorsement for the proposed use.
East End Connector: Council will also receive an update on the East End Connector project, including the feedback from citizens during the last public meeting. All this comes in advance of the May 2008 release of the updated environmental impact statement, which represents one of the last formal checkpoints before the road project moves forward -- well, along with getting the final funding needed from the state, but that's another story.
Interestingly, the traffic impact numbers in the memo to Council confirm a theme we've raised here before: the East End Connector will have a significant impact on traffic reduction across the Bull City, not simply in neighborhoods like Trinity Park. Take Alston Ave., whose traffic is expected to double with four-laning from 21,600 to 42,000 cars per day in the absence of the EEC. The EEC is projected to cut that growth by a third, to 34,700 vehicles.
The work of the ad hoc committee studying the impact and effects of the EEC seems to be going well, and we're not expecting any new monkeywrenches to enter the process at this point. Still, that possibility's out there, and if new opposition is arising to the project, expect to hear rumblings of it this week.
NC 147 Bridge: Back under discussion is the removal and replacement of the decrepit pedestrian bridge now closed for over a decade over the Durham Freeway. No, sorry, the City hasn't yet found funding for its share of the project costs. Yes, the municipal agreement with NCDOT that would allow everyone's least-favorite roadbuilder to use leftover funds from the original Durham Freeway project towards some of the costs is set to expire soon.
The solution? A seven-year extension of the municipal agreement with
the DOT. Sadly, I would tend to guess that it could take a goodly chunk
of that seven years for Durham to find the capital funding for this
project.
Eastway Village: Council will also have an opportunity to vote on
accepting the lowest bid for the construction of the third phase of
Eastway Village, the really terrific-looking redevelopment project
along the old Barnes Ave. in East Durham.
The winning bidder by a nose is Blue Ridge Enterprises, Inc. of Mt. Airy, which also constructed the first phase of the project and by all accounts did a very good job with the project.
Quality ain't cheap, especially when you're subsidizing it at affordable prices. The per-unit basis for Phase III is approximately $156,000 per dwelling unit, assuming the project doesn't dip into its contingency fund. The current asking price on remaining Phase I/II houses, on the other hand, is $103,000 to $127,900. (Not that this should be surprising -- the presence of Federal loan and block grant programs make this a common occurrence in publicly-funded redevelopment and in private non-profit housing programs.)
The other piece of good news on Eastway Village? Twenty of the 32 currently-built units are sold, and the Council will vote today on accepting three more bids for homes, two from low-income and one from a market-position buyer.
Is there any chance Durham could redirect the funds for the contested Alston widening project to the 147 pedestrian bridge? Or are those such different pots of money that it wouldn't work like that?
Posted by: Michael Bacon | February 07, 2008 at 12:59 PM
NCDOT committed $2M to tear down and replace the NC147 bridge. Current cost estimates are about $3M. Since both the bridge and the Alston Ave. redesign are NCDOT money, the City would have to ask them about swapping the money. The funds are committed to specific projects, but NCDOT can make such swaps. However, I think it's highly unlikely they would agree with this change in priorities, especially since there are some in NECD who support the Alston widening.
Posted by: Mike Woodard | February 07, 2008 at 08:55 PM
"Sadly, I would tend to guess that it could take a goodly chunk of that seven years for Durham to find the capital funding for this project."
nope, it will take ten years and they will remove only half of the bridge...
Posted by: C. Nickle | February 08, 2008 at 09:42 AM
I always wondered if the NC147 bridge is still a relevant project. It's goal is reconnecting two neighborhoods that were divided by the highway.
Maybe we should look at some alternatives to achieve this goal. The supporters of the widening of Alston Ave. are supporting: 1. Investment in NECD; 2. Reduction in congestion on Alston Ave.; 3. Pedestrian safety; 4. Future economic development in the area. (That is my interpretation...someone let me know if I'm wrong.)
Idealistically...we could use the City transportation's plan of improving streetscape and intersections and use the extra money to improve the 147/Alston Ave. intersection. Going one step further...we could develop a cap over the freeway to be the home of a few commercial establishments (in effect, connecting the two neighborhoods). Maybe this could be the beginning of the Alston Ave. commercial corridor from NC147 to Main St.????
I just threw that out there...haven't thought it out completely but on paper it would accomplish all of the goals of the NECD community and Durham as well...
Posted by: KH | February 08, 2008 at 02:19 PM