By C.D. KIRKPATRICK : The Herald-Sun
ckirkpatrick@heraldsun.com
Dec 12, 2002 : 12:16 am ET

DURHAM -- Orange and Durham residents had their final say about a regional transportation plan proposal at a public hearing Wednesday before a vote set for Dec. 18 to approve the plan.

The 2025 long-range plan includes a version of two controversial roads: Eno Drive in Durham and the Elizabeth Brady Road Extension in Hillsborough. The two road projects have been on the books for 30 years or more and have pitted interests against each other for decades.

The regional Transportation Advisory Committee, with members from Durham, Orange and Chatham counties, must approve the 2025 transportation plan to give the federal government enough time to analyze the road, transit, bicycle and pedestrian projects for their collective air quality impact. No road can be built unless it is in the plan, which is updated every three years.

As it stands now, with a Dec. 18 approval, the region will still be three months late and out of federal air quality compliance, said TAC Chairwoman Becky Heron. The current plan expires on Feb. 28. That means during those three months no new federal money could be approved for projects. The three-month lapse should not amount to much of a problem, but any further delay could prove harmful to road projects and mass transit budgets, officials say.

The latest version of Eno Drive, now called the "Revised Northern Durham Parkway," was accepted in general by both sides because of a compromise engineered by Mayor Bill Bell in mid-November. The compromise stated that if the East End Connector, a popular road among Eno Drive opponents, were built first, then opponents could accept the new version of Eno Drive.

The East End Connector would link U.S. 70 with the Durham Freeway, alleviating the need for another loop, Eno Drive opponents say. The road would give unimpeded access from northern and Eastern Durham County to Research Triangle Park and to Orange County along the connected roads.

The Revised Northern Durham Parkway would run from U.S. 70 at the Wake County line to Glenn School Road at Interstate 85 and then run northwest along Old Oxford Road and end on the new road just north of Snow Hill Road at Roxboro Road. The road would give another access to Treyburn Corporate Park and also ease the environmental concerns of those who feared that older versions of Eno Drive would harm the Eno River.

But since that compromise, Eno Drive opponents have accused the N.C. Department of Transportation of working against it by trying to move Eno Drive up on the priority list. The suspicion and compromise had the odd effect of bringing former opponents together on Wednesday night.

Caleb Southern, an opponent of Eno Drive and participant in the compromise, and Anne M. Peele, a supporter of Eno Drive and vice president of governmental relations for the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, both pushed for the compromise on Wednesday night at the public hearing.

"In the meantime we find that DOT is not satisfied ... They were coming back and trying to move it up on the priority list," Southern said. "That’s one more piece of evidence [explaining why there is no] trust."

More vociferous groups on either side of the Elizabeth Brady Road Extension issue showed up at the Durham meeting.

Hillsborough Mayor Joe Phelps said a previous mayor had misrepresented the town’s position on the road and that the town must have relief from Churton Street congestion. The extension is designed to be a turnpike around the town to reroute truck traffic off of the historic street.

"I don’t understand why anyone would object to preserving our town," he said.

But the other side argued that the road would unnecessarily cross the Eno River and run through historic property and environmentally sensitive areas.

"We believe the needs can be met by utilizing the existing crossings of the river," said Don Moffitt, president of the Eno River Association. "A new crossing, as placed, will have deleterious effects."