Construction on the Durham-Orange Light Rail won’t start until 2019, and service isn’t expected to begin until 2025, but it’s already a contentious issue.

Transit officials and community members discussed the development of the project at Tuesday’s WCHL Community Forum.

The 17-mile light rail line will run from UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill to the Duke and VA Hospitals in Durham.

The project is expected to cost about $1.5 billion, 50 percent will come from the federal government, 25 percent will come from a local sales tax and the remaining 25 percent would come from the state.

Last year the legislature put a cap of $500,000 on light-rail, which effectively halted the project.

Patrick McDonough, manager of planning for GoTriangle, said they were working to get the cap removed. McDonough said he believes a House Committee will recommend removing the cap to the rest of the General Assembly soon.

“We are confident that there is a chance to address the cap to get it removed,” said McDonough.

Alex Cabanes, a community activist, is against the light rail and is instead advocating for a new bus system.

“Light rail might not be the best solution for our particular environment and things like BRT, or bus rapid transit, would potentially be more compelling for the area,” said Cabanes.

Bus Rapid Transit involves building dedicated lanes, so buses can travel unobstructed by traffic.

Chapel Hill council Member Ed Harrison, said the light rail trains would simply have more capacity than buses.

“Any bus we know in the world can safety carry no more than 100 people. A rail vehicle, that by the way last two and half times as long as a bus very likely, I believe it’s up to 500 people,” said Harrison.

Chapel Hill is considering a Bus Rapid Transit system in the North South Corridor, along Martin Luther King Boulevard, but not as a substitute for the light rail system.

Harrison said the Bus Rapid Transit system would still be a major reconstruction project for the town.

Patrick McDonough said the light rail would be integrated with the local bus and sidewalk systems, to allow people to travel easily around the area.

“We’ve set aside money in the Durham County bus and rail investment plan and the Orange County plans to try to deliver those bus and sidewalk projects as effectively as we can,” said McDonough.

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