Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
Rail freight plays a vital role in economic development throughout the State <br /> Intermodal service depends on partnerships with railroads trucking • <br /> companies, seaports, and others in the transportation logistics chain North <br /> Carolina has 3.250 mainline miles of track with Class I railroads holding <br /> seventy-nine percent (79%) of the trackage rights the remainder controlled <br /> by local railroads and switching and terminal railroads The 2006 Mid-Cycle <br /> Update to the North Carolina Statewide Intermodal Transportation Plan <br /> identified seven hundred ninety-nine million dollars ($799,000,000) in <br /> freight rail needs over the next 25 years including maintenance and <br /> preservation,modernization and expansion. <br /> North Carolina's short-line railroads play key role in the State's economic <br /> development and transportation service and are needed to provide essential <br /> services to other modes of transportation and the North Carolina port s stem <br /> North Carolina agriculture is dependent upon essential service by short-line <br /> railroads. State funds are needed to maintain short-line railroads as viable <br /> contributors to economic development,-agriculture and transportation in this <br /> State in order to prevent the loss of regional rail service The Department of <br /> Transportation reported that 44,992 rail cars handled by short-lines kept <br /> 179.688 trucks off North Carolina highways Short-line railroads are <br /> essential to preserve and develop jobs in rural and small urban areas of <br /> North Carolina. <br /> Intermodal facilities and inland ports can greatly reduce freight traffic on <br /> North Carolina's highwaysystem reducing demand congestion and <br /> damage. <br /> The proposed North Carolina International Terminal will need high-capacity <br /> mtermodal access. <br /> Most of North Carolina's growth is in its urban regions According to the <br /> State Data Center, during the first decade of the 21" centga, sixty-six <br /> percent(66%)of the projected 1,270,000 growth in population is in 15 urban • <br /> counties surrounding Charlotte Raleigh and the Triad while forty percent <br /> (40%) ism just six counties: Mecklenburg Wake Durham Orange,Forsyth <br /> and Guilford. <br /> This large urban population rg owth rg eatly taxes resources Despite the <br /> visionary creation of the Highway Trust Fund by the 1989 General <br /> Assembly and the funding of urban loop highways congestion continues to <br /> worsen. Creation of a special fund to help meet urban transportation needs <br /> with alternatives such as rail transit and buses coupled with land use <br /> planning will spur and guide economic development in a more <br /> economically and environmentally sound manner. Investment in public <br /> transportation facilitates economic opportunity to the State through job <br /> creation, access to employment and residential and commercial <br /> development. Public transportation also protects the public health by <br /> decreasing air pollution and reducing carbon emissions It reduces traffic <br /> congestion, road expenditures public and private parking costs and the <br /> number of traffic accidents. Charlotte's recent success in o ening the first <br /> phase of its light rail system with ridership significantly over projections <br /> shows that North Carolinians are willing to use transportation alternatives <br /> 12 Significant local revenues are needed to match State funds so that a major <br /> portion of the expenses is borne by the localities receiving the majority of <br /> the benefits. A local option sales tax for public transportation was approved <br /> by a fifty-eight percent (58%) favorable vote in Mecklenburg County in <br /> 1998 and reaffirmed by a seventy percent (70%) favorable vote in 2007 <br /> Extending this authority to additional jurisdictions along with other revenue <br /> options, will enable localities to demonstrate local support for additional <br /> transit options. <br /> 13 Surveys have indicated broad public support for providing additional up blic . <br /> transportation options and for allowing localities to generate revenue to <br /> match State grants. <br /> '1136-252. Grants to local governments and transportation authorities <br /> Page 2 Session Law 2009-527 SL2009-0527 <br />