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S-Line Rail Corridor

TownTalk: NCDOT, Warren County Leaders Plan Feb. 25 Open House To Discuss Norlina’s Future S-Line’s Mobility Hub

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The community is invited to come out next week to hear about the progress being made on a mobility hub that is scheduled to be built in Norlina as part of a multi-million dollar project that will bring passenger rail service to the area.

The N.C. Department of Transportation and Warren County will host a community meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 25 for the proposed Norlina Mobility Hub. The hub would allow people to access different modes of transportation from a central location.

“We’re excited to be working closely with Warren County residents to share information about the mobility hub project and hear how we can work together to get the community ready for rail and bring additional economic activity to the county,” said Brennon Fuqua, director of NCDOT’s Integrated Mobility Division.

The open house will last from 5-8 p.m. and will be held at the Warren County Armory, 501 U.S. Hwy 158 Bus E. in Warrenton. People may drop in at any time to hear updates and learn about next steps.

The NCDOT Rail and Integrated Mobility Divisions will update the public about the status of the S-Line program, the work done to date on the Mobility Hub Study and seek feedback. The S-Line Raleigh to Richmond Passenger Rail Project is a partnership between the NCDOT and the Virginia Rail Passenger Authority to develop an abandoned freight corridor into a future highly efficient passenger rail service. It will connect communities between Raleigh and Richmond.

As part of the S-Line rail project, NCDOT’s Integrated Mobility Division is studying design options for mobility hubs in several communities, including Norlina, in Warren County.

A mobility hub is a public facility that brings together a rail station with “last-mile” transportation options, such as ride sharing, regional transportation, community amenities and other services. These hubs offer safe solutions to get off the train and use a bike, shuttle, ride sharing service or other mode to finish their trip.

To learn more about IMD and the mobility hub projects, visit NCDOT.gov. Follow Integrated Mobility on Twitter/X @NCDOT_IMD and LinkedIn at NCDOT Integrated Mobility Division.

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S-Line Rail Corridor

TownTalk: Mobility Hub Funding

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The Henderson City Council made its selection Monday for where the Mobility Hub would be located, which in turn sets in motion the next steps for the overall plan to bring passenger rail service back to Henderson.

The Council chose the iconic downtown First National Bank building over the Garnett Street Station, even though – ironically – that building once served as a train depot.

City and NCDOT officials presented both sites to the Council during its Feb. 10 meeting, complete with artist renderings and a list of pros and cons for each potential site.

Ultimately, the Council voted for the bank building, which has been vacant for decades.

It is unclear just how much it will cost to renovate the building in preparation for use as a mobility hub, which is one component included in the $21 million train station project.

If the mobility hub needed to be completed right now, the city would need to foot the bill. According to information from City Public Information Officer Salonia Saxton, however, that mobility hub won’t be needed for several more years – which gives local and NCDOT staff a bit of time to identify funding sources to help defray the cost.

Building construction and renovation, parcel acquisition, site development and a pedestrian railroad overpass are just a few of the facets of the project the city expects to fund, Saxton said.

She said the mobility hub is a supporting facility to the rail station and its platforms and is only a part of the $21 million estimate.

Next up for the site is completion of an environmental study by NCDOT.

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S-Line Rail Corridor

The Local Skinny! City Council Chooses Iconic Downtown Bank Building As Site Of Local Mobility Hub

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The Henderson City Council chose Monday night the former First National Bank building to be the site of the mobility hub for the S-Line railway project.

In a unanimous vote, at its regular monthly meeting, the Council selected the historic building located in the middle of downtown Henderson. Council members Sara Coffey, Garry Daeke and Lamont Noel were absent from the meeting.

Assistant City Manager Paylor Spruill and N.C. DOT representatives reviewed progress with the project thus far and said next steps were waiting the final site selection.

The Mobility Hub and Rail Station is a separate project from the actual rail project, which will help connect by rail Raleigh and Richmond.

Henderson is one of the stops along the 85-mile stretch of rail line that will provide commuter and passenger service.

The city’s Land Planning Committee met in November and December to consider the two sites under consideration – the city-owned First National Bank property and the Garnett Street Station.

Renovating a major building in the downtown was seen as a strong catalyst to further confidence by private investment in downtown’s redevelopment, according to information contained in Monday’s agenda package.

The historical significance of the bank building, with covenants in place to preserve the architecture, would likely not attract private investors. But putting the building to use as a public space could be a good way to preserve the building and provide benefits to the community.

Council member Sam Seifert sits on the Land Planning Committee and said choosing the historic building would send “a strong message” about downtown development, adding that the transformed building could become a “statement piece” along the S-Line project.

Staff from the DOT’s Integrity Mobility Division attended Monday’s Council meeting and said although the program is facilitated by DOT, “we want to make sure it’s led by the city of Henderson.”

They want to ensure that the mobility hub provides connectivity to William Street and Garnett Street, giving pedestrians safe options to walk in the area when they come to visit.

With the feasibility study completed, next steps include an environmental study before getting to the design and construction phases. But DOT needed a decision from city leaders before moving on.

Cost estimates are preliminary but could be more than $21 million to bring the old building back from disrepair, due to age and damage and the fact that it has been vacant for so long.

The façade appears ok and in good shape, but the interior needs extensive work.

Also, there are businesses on the William Street side that will be displaced because of the project, so there will need to be money set aside for acquisitions. And because of its historic significance, there need to be extensive coordination with state historic preservation officials.

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S-Line Rail Corridor

The Local Skinny! City Council To Hear Train Station Recommendations

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The city’s Land Planning Committee is set to recommend to the full City Council that the former First National Bank building on Garnett Street be used as the S-Line train station.

Council Member Garry Daeke is a member of the land planning committee, and he attended a meeting of the committee held Thursday, Dec. 19. Daeke told WIZS that a couple of options were discussed, and ultimately, the committee decided to get behind the former bank building over the Garnett Street Station.

But that decision comes with a hefty price tag – Daeke said development of the bank building location and mobility hub concept would cost five to seven times the cost of the Garnett Street Station option. The price is between $15 million and $25 million for developing the bank building idea and $3 million to $4 million for the Garnett Street Station option.

“The bank building is such a central part of downtown,” Daeke said. “We’d like to put it to good use.”

Estimated costs of getting the bank building itself ready for its new use are about $10 million, Daeke said, compared with $7.2 million for the Garnett Street Station. The city owns the bank building, but not the Garnett Street Station, so there would be extra costs involved to purchase that property.

Daeke said N.C. Dept. of Transportation officials would like to have the city’s answer by January so plans can continue for the S-Line development. There’s still a lot of legwork to do to secure various federal grants and other funding options, he said, but NCDOT officials have said that if all goes well, the project could take between five and eight years to complete. “If funding takes a while, it could be 10 to 15 years,” Daeke said.

“I’m really looking forward to this occurring,” he said, adding that figuring out the grants and other financing is a necessary part of the process to create a mobility hub for the whole community to use and enjoy.

The bank building has lain vacant for a number of years, but it hasn’t been a bank for decades.

“There’s just so much structural work to do,” he said, including the possibility of creating a second-floor walkway from the William Street side of the building.

According to Daeke, assistant city manager Paylor Spruill has noted that the building is “overbuilt” to support the weight involved, but there remain questions about upgrades to the substructure.

Then there’s the question of the access road located between the rear of the buildings parallel to William Street, which is presently used by existing businesses for loading and unloading.

There would still be a need to have some type of access road back there, he said.

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Chamber’s “State Of Transportation” Luncheon Program Details Dabney Drive, S-Line Projects

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The Dabney Drive facelift from Coble Boulevard to Garnett Street is on the state’s to-do list, with right-of-way acquisitions set to begin in about a year and contracts to be let for bid by summer 2027.

It’s among several projects on the 2024-2033 NCDOT State Transportation Improvement Project – STIP – as Division 5 Engineer Brandon Jones explained during the “State of Transportation” program hosted Wednesday by the Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce.

Locals may simply call it the Dabney Drive project, but at NCDOT, it’s known as U-5890.

The project includes making Dabney Drive a one-way road, creating  sidewalks and bike paths and a peanut-shaped roundabout near Dabney and Garnett, Jones said during his presentation.

Also on that list are two bridge projects – Bridge 89, or Nutbush Bridge, and Bridge 38, at U.S. 1 North over the CSX rail line. Contracts for the bridge projects are scheduled to be let in July 2028 and January 2030, respectively.

The Dabney Drive project is going to be a “great improvement,” Jones said, not only benefitting drivers, but for bicyclists and pedestrians. Dabney Drive will feature a six-foot-wide sidewalk and Corbitt Road, which will handle westbound traffic to Dabney Drive’s eastbound traffic, will include a 10-foot-wide multi-use path.

The 10-year STIP gets updated every couple of years, and Jones said there are three “buckets” of money that projects must fall under: state mobility projects, regional impact projects and division needs projects. The state projects get 40 percent of the funds, with regional and division projects each getting 30 percent.

“Every bucket has to be balanced in the STIP – that’s what creates differences in scheduling,” Jones explained.

With only 25 percent coming from federal dollars, Jones said the state relies on the motor fuel tax to help fund road projects.

But that tax is going down,” he said, because vehicles are becoming more fuel efficient – and generating less revenue.

“It’s a good thing for the environment, but has a negative impact on the potential revenue we receive to keep our transportation system expanded and maintained.”

Road projects can seem like they take a long time to complete, but Jones reminded the audience that all pre-construction design can easily take years. It’s not like the city can just close Dabney Drive while it’s being worked on – NCDOT crews are “always having to build new, shift traffic, tear out old and repeat that pattern for awhile,” he said.

The other major transportation-related news for Henderson and Vance County is the much-anticipated S-Line passenger rail line. When the North Carolina portion is completed, it will help connect Atlanta to the D.C. area, Jones said.

Henderson is set to be one of the stops along the S-Line as it makes its way north into Raleigh and then Wake Forest before chugging through Franklin County into Henderson and Norlina.

Jones said the estimate to get the stretch from Raleigh to Wake Forest alone will cost $1 billion. It’ll take another billion to complete the link from Wake Forest to Henderson.

The state is buying the existing rail line from CSX, but there will be a lot to do to be ready for high-speed passenger rail service.

“You can’t just take care of the rail,” Jones said, “you’ve got to take care of the at-grade intersections…(and) grade separate them,”

Alexander Avenue is one local street that will need this attention as the S-Line makes progress. An underpass or tunnel at Peachtree Road and closing off Chavasse Avenue are also planned.

The Alexander Avenue project is one of three projects that have cleared one hurdle to be considered in future STIP funding, Jones said. The other two are making intersection improvements at Raleigh Road and Belmont Drive and a citywide signal system in Henderson. If they don’t make “committed” status in the next five years, they’ll have to compete again to get on the STIP list.

S-Line Rail Corridor

S-Line Info Session Scheduled During Upcoming ‘Vance Cares’ Event

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The public is invited to come to an information session Saturday, June 8 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to learn more about the proposed S-Line mobility hub as part of the NCDOT passenger rail service project.

The event will be held in the courtyard of the Henderson Police Department, 202 Breckenridge St.

If you would like to learn more about what this project entails and how it may affect the future of passenger rail service in Henderson, this session is for you. If you know all about the S-Line project and want to share your input, this session is for you, too.

Visit

www.ncdot.gov/divisions/rail/s-line-projects to learn more.

 

Warren Residents Invited To May 30 S-Line Mobility Hub Meeting

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Warren County Community and Economic Development, the N.C. Department of Transportation Integrated Mobility Division and project engineers will be at the Warren County Recreation Complex on May 30 for a community engagement event to talk about the future of the S-Line as part of the project’s mobility hub feasibility study.

NCDOT is working with communities along the proposed S-Line passenger rail corridor to conduct feasibility work for potential mobility hubs in each community. Feasibility work consists of initial design and environmental analysis.

But what exactly are mobility hubs? Transportation officials define them as  safe and comfortable public areas to transfer from one mode of transportation to another. A mobility hub may look different and have different transportation amenities depending on the community’s existing transportation needs, and that’s where input from local residents comes in.

The engagement session on May 30 is designed for the public to express their current transportation needs, as well as what they desire to see in the future regarding transportation in and around Warren County; input will be collected about community desire around transportation options to access places outside of Warren County. These transit options could include a train stop on the S-Line as well.

The engagement session is floating and will run from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. on May 30 at the Warren County Recreation Complex. In the event of rain, the event will be held at the same time and date at the Warren County Memorial Library.

For more information, email Charla Duncan, director of Warren County Community and Economic Development, at charladuncan@warrencountync.gov.

S-Line Rail Corridor

The Local Skinny! S Line Rail Corridor Receives Over $1 Billion

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Apparently, $1 billion doesn’t go as far as it used to. At least as far as the S-Line passenger rail line goes, that number – a 1 followed by NINE zeroes – will get the train from Raleigh to as far north as Wake Forest. That’s still 28 miles or so from Henderson.

President Joe Biden and U.S. Department of Transportation announced last week that North Carolina would get a whopping $1.09 billion in federal grant money to build the first segment of the S-Line, a high-performance passenger rail line that will ultimately connect North Carolina with Virginia and points in the Northeast.

WIZS News spoke with NC DOT Rail Division Director Jason Orthner late last week  to find out what the project means for the state, and for Henderson and Vance County – basically the halfway point between Raleigh and Richmond.

Orthner said Henderson is “a critical location on the line…(which, when completed)  will be on one of the most advanced transportation networks in the country.”

The whole project covers 162 miles, Orthner said. While there is existing rail along many stretches, it’s a project that will need to be built in phases. If DOT engineer could wave a magic wand to create all the bridges and other structural components needed to bring the passenger rail service through the state, it surely would shorten the process.

Alas, state DOT officials are just trying to get the train out of Raleigh and north to Wake Forest in this first phase of the massive project.

“We will pursue grant funding and extend service as we do it,” Orthner said, adding that DOT is already planning for the next phases to reach Henderson and beyond.

As for Henderson’s part, Orthner said, being ready for what’s coming, he’s pleased. “We are really excited about Henderson,” he said.

City leaders have been learning about mobility hubs and transportation hubs as they prepare and plan for what passenger rail service can add to the city’s growth and tourism opportunities.

The trick is to use existing tracks up and down the East Coast for passenger rail service without impeding the freight service that uses the same railways.

Train travel is growing in popularity – there’s record ridership between Raleigh and Charlotte, Orthner noted – and he said there is a true interest by the public in rail transportation.

“It’s safe, productive, comfortable and it’s just really a great way to travel.”

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S-Line Rail Corridor

Tillis Announces $1 Billion Grant for Raleigh to Richmond Commuter Rail

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— press release courtesy of the office of U.S. Senator Thom Tillis

Dec. 5, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Thom Tillis announced a $1 billion grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for a new passenger rail route between Raleigh, NC and Richmond, VA. The route will be along the CSX Transportation “S-Line” as a part of the Southeast Corridor that will better connect North Carolina with Virginia, Washington D.C., and the Northeast Corridor.

“This $1 billion grant for North Carolina to make progress on the Raleigh to Richmond Rail Line is a big win for economic development in the region,” said Senator Tillis. “I’m proud this investment was made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that I helped negotiate, write, and pass into law.”

The project improves system and service performance by developing a resilient and reliable passenger rail route that will also contribute to freight and supply chain resiliency in the Southeast. NCDOT and Amtrak will provide a 20% non-Federal match. Following selection, FRA will work with the recipient to establish and obligate the Phased Funding Agreement. FRA anticipates an initial obligation of FY22-23 funds under the agreement of up to $479,416,000, with contingent commitments from Advance Appropriations in FY24-26 providing the balance of funds.

For a list of specific BIL infrastructure grants, click HERE.

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https://www.tillis.senate.gov/2023/12/tillis-announces-1-billion-grant-for-raleigh-to-richmond-commuter-rail

S-Line Rail Corridor

The Local Skinny! Latest On S Line Rail Service

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Plans for the proposed S-Line are chugging along, and Vance County commissioners got an encouraging update from NC DOT officials at their meeting earlier this week.

If all goes the way it’s supposed to, Henderson and Norlina will be stops along a yet-to-be completed passenger rail line that will connect the Washington, D.C. and the Northeast Corridor rail system all the way to Florida.

Julie White, deputy secretary for multi-modal transportation with DOT, joined Rail Division Director Jason Orthner and Ryan Brumfield, DOT’s integrated mobility division director at Monday’s meeting.

“We continue to see support of the corridor and interest from the U.S. DOT to invest,” Orthner stated.

This stretch of rail line that includes seven stops from Sanford to Norlina in North Carolina, is expected to serve up to 25 million passengers when it’s completed, sometime close to 2030. It will connect Raleigh and Richmond, VA.

Grant funding provided $950,000 for conduct studies for each of the proposed stops in Henderson and Norlina. There were multiple listening sessions in each area to gather community input and explain the project over the course of the past year or so.

The two local stops proposed in this stretch of the S-Line project are among seven, with others being Sanford, Apex, Wake Forest, Youngsville and Franklinton.

Ridership in North Carolina has increased steadily over the past five years, with the exception of 2020 when COVID-19 was in full force. In 2022, more than a half million people hopped on a train to get from Point A to Point B, according to information the trio shared with commissioners.

People are leaning into rail for transportation needs, Orthner noted. A fifth train is being added to serve the Raleigh to Charlotte market and this year roundtrip service between the two major urban areas is scheduled to begin.

The impact on the local economy could be big, and local leaders have been involved in discussions about potential station, or hub, sites in recent months as plans continue to progress.

This project has been in process since the early 1990’s and the corridor rail was acquired from CSX in 2020. Since then, there have been lots of studies and grant awards to keep the whole thing “on track,” no pun intended.

Brumfield said the community interest in creating the rail service has added to the success of the project. The creation of “mobility hubs” involves much more that a building where people wait to board a train, he said. It’s an activity center of transportation and a meeting space where energy ripples out into the wider community, positively affecting quality of life and accessibility and making communities more vibrant.

Commissioners asked questions, from length of time to get from Raleigh to Richmond (2 -2.5 hours) to what type of train traffic Henderson could expect to see along its portion of the rail line (continued freight service and faster passenger service).

Right now, CSX runs trains about 25 mph in the area, but high-speed service means that passenger trains could reach between 80 and 110 mph on northbound and southbound runs.

This project is one of 10 that the NC DOT Rail Division has across the state.

In their presentation to commissioners, the DOT team noted that this construction project will result in one of the most technologically advanced railroads in the Southeast, providing:

-110 mph passenger railroad

-91 new grade separations

-concrete ties

-high speed switches

-high level platforms

-freight bypass tracks

-positive train control and

-advanced signal systems

 

Once the Raleigh to Richmond link is completed, it will connect North Carolina and points farther South to Washington, DC and points up the Northeast Corridor, where rail service is a critical transportation component for commuters and other travelers.

Benefits to our region include:

  • Direct connection between urban centers by as many as 25 million passengers by 2040
  • Additional capacity and over and hour in travel time saved between NC and VA
  • Backbone of regional multi-modal connectivity including commuter rail, transit and active transportation
  • Critical to further expanding the NC passenger rail system
  • Provides freight network resiliency
  • Environmental benefits
  • Expands service to disadvantaged and underserved regions

WHAT’S NEXT:

  • Prepare and submit grant applications. There’s a grant funding match provided by the State Transportation Improvement Plan would combine local funding with state and federal grants. Application due April 21.
  • Develop and implement the first phase of the S-Line will be Raleigh to Wake Forest
  • There’s $4.5 billion available from 2022 FRA (a federal-state partnership)
  • Grant funding for ROW, final design and constructions.

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