Approval prospects for the Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit Project have become tenuous as a result of recent communication between GoTriangle and the US Federal Transit Administration.

According to an agenda item intended for the Orange County Board of Commissioners, GoTriangle representatives will elaborate on the status of the project during a regular meeting scheduled for later today.

The agenda item states that GoTriangle was required by the FTA to clarify aspects of the funding plan for the project, with attached letters from federal employees putting certain data points under scrutiny.

Correspondence between Tyrhonda Edwards, an FTA employee, and Jeff Mann, the general manager of GoTriangle, culminated in the issuance of the following ultimatum from the federal government:

“If GoTriangle is unable to provide the necessary documentation showing at least 30 percent of the non-CIG funding is committed by the end of April 2017, no further extensions [for funding requests] will be approved.”

Board members are expected to discuss this development and what it means for both the project and the county this evening at 7:00 PM in the Whitted Building on 300 West Tryon Street.

Render by GoTriangle.

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