WILMINGTON, N.C. — The City of Wilmington is seeking consultants to conduct preliminary engineering, environmental, and historic preservation studies for a plan to relocate CSX rail lines across the Cape Fear River from the city and turn the existing rail line into a light rail route.
The Port City Daily reports the city council will vote Tuesday on accepting $2.5 million in state and federal grants to fund the studies, required as the first stage of what could be a billion-dollar project.
The key to the project will be finding another route for bringing the CSX line into the Port of Wilmington in place of its current loop around the city, which could require a new rail bridge. The current line features moveable bridges where trains face a 10-mph speed limit, as well a 5-mph curve at the eastern edge of the loop around the city. The newspaper reports that CSX is now indicating support for the project after previously being “standoffish.”
You have some nice beaches south of Wilmington. I don’t know how much vacation traffic would move to rail but that may be a factor.
This is a stupid idea and another waste of taxpayer dollars. Wilmington, NC is too small to support light rail. Hopefully the taxpayers have more sense than the politicians and vote this down like they did in Nashville.
Richmond to Raleigh is never going to happen.
Richmond, VA to Raleigh, NC should be first. No unlimited source of funds.
From what I can find, the area is less than 200,000. Can’t tell for sure since I don’t know how far out they would want the light rail to go. I can’t believe a population that small could support light rail.
When the existing track is just above the water table (wetlands) a trench is no a viable choive.
The link to the local article is pretty good and gives a great graphic of current rail lines in the city and the route into the port with all the at grade crossings marked. Looking at the map you wonder if it would be just better to do the trench thing, a straight shot down to the port from the north side of downtown, eliminates a ton of at grade crossings, and speeds up trains in and out of the port (think Reno NV and a few other cities where trench was dug and rail line dropped in) Couldn’t any more expensive, maybe less, and gets rid of the idea of another expensive & obstacle of another river bridge.
Let the existing rail route be a trail.