Orange County, Hillsborough Commissioners collaborate on tourism, transportation

The Orange County Board of Commissioners met with the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners on Thursday night to discuss future economic development and transportation projects.

Hillsborough Mayor Tom Stevens said most of the town’s economic development concentrates on tourism — an industry that brought in $22 million state-wide last year.

“Tourism is a major amenity for Hillsborough residents,” he said.

County commissioner Chairwoman Bernadette Pelissier said food and the arts have also been a significant part of the area’s economy, and she looks forward to future collaboration with municipalities.

“What’s good for the municipalities will be good for the county,” said Steve Yuhasz, commissioner vice-chairman.

In other business, County Transportation Planner Karen Lincoln said the county is looking into drafting a memorandum of understanding with Hillsborough to create a circular transit route to link Orange County Public Transportation and Chapel Hill Transit.

If this memorandum goes into effect, Lincoln said the program could start as early as May.

“We’re all interested in signing this (memorandum) as soon as possible,” Pelissier said.

Lincoln also brought up the Safe Routes to School Program, which would provide sidewalks, crosswalks and biking lanes around school areas.

This project would center around Grady A. Brown Elementary School, C. W. Stanford Middle School and Cameron Park Elementary School.

County commissioner Barry Jacobs said he approved of the program, stating that in previous years the N.C. Department of Transportation had not been in favor of it.

“We were told that we shouldn’t put a crosswalk in front of the school because it would encourage children to cross the street,” he said.

Continuing the transportation discussion, Hillsborough commissioner Eric Hallman said one of the town’s major issues is whether to spend limited funds on local roads or more regional projects like the widening of Interstates 40 and 85.

“As we work towards a new transportation improvement plan, we need to make the choices about diverting funding from interstate to local,” he said.

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