Duke University won't support Durham-Orange light-rail project

Duke University's decision to not support GoTriangle's proposed Durham-Orange light-rail project in North Carolina is a "major blow" to the local communities and entire Triangle region, agency officials said this week.

GoTriangle officials issued a statement after receiving a letter from Duke officials on Feb. 27 that indicated the university will not sign a cooperative agreement needed for the proposed project, which calls for construction of a 17.7-mile light-rail system that would connect Chapel Hill and eastern Durham.

"For more than a decade, and more intensely over the past year, GoTriangle and local elected officials have worked closely with the university to address concerns so Duke's action ... is especially disappointing," agency officials said in a prepared statement. "This is a major setback for the Durham and Orange county communities and the entire Triangle region. GoTriangle will work with the elected officials in Durham and Orange counties and the Federal Transit Administration to assess all available options and decide upon a course of action."

The proposed light-rail system would serve educational, medical and other key activity centers, according to GoTriangle.

Yesterday, Duke President Vincent Price defended the university's decision not to support the project.

“In this particular case, Duke was asked to make financial, land and other commitments that would have required taking unacceptable risks to the safety of our patients and the public, and the continued viability of our research and health enterprises,” Price said in a letter to the Duke community, the Raleigh News & Observer reported.

“To do so under the imposed deadline would have abdicated Duke’s responsibility, and my personal responsibility as president, to act prudently in our institutional and public interest," wrote Price.

The newspaper reported that Price and other university officials had notified GoTriangle this week that they were concerned the project had undergone many changes and faced growing financial challenges.

Also this week, the agency received a letter from North Carolina Railroad Co. (NCRC), which has been negotiating a lease agreement with GoTriangle as part of the project. The NCRC letter indicated company officials are unable to sign the lease until specific concerns are addressed.

In its statement, GoTriangle said it was "carefully reviewing" the NCRC letter and assessing the potential impacts on the project.

Meanwhile, a North Carolina congressman said he is disappointed that local stakeholders failed to negotiate agreements with GoTriangle to make the project happen.

"This project holds the potential to enhance mobility and equity in the Research Triangle and guide future development in a region that is growing rapidly," said U.S. Rep. David Price (D-N.C.) in a press release.

The light-rail project also is a crucial first step in a regional transit plan that would include enhanced bus service, bus rapid transit and Garner-Raleigh-Cary-RTP-Durham commuter rail, said Price, who chairs the House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Committee.