Wilmington has pledged $100,000 to fund a feasibility study that would identify the total costs and challenges of moving the CSX rail line over the Cape Fear River, directly to the Port. During the most recent CoastLine Forum, the City Council candidates weighed in on the issue.
Most of the candidates for city council agree that the current CSX rail line running through the city is no longer effective. Neil Anderson, Hollis Briggs Jr., Deb Hays, Margaret Haynes, Paul Lawler, and Alvin Rogers all support moving the rail through the 421 industrial corridor. Once the CSX trains are relocated, the six candidates support using the tracks for a trolley system to increase connectivity through the city.
Neil Anderson: “Some people might be saying, ‘That’s terribly expensive, never going to happen.’ Well, the state’s in the process right now of looking at a more expensive project up in the Morehead City area. So, this would actually be cheaper, and our port’s more further developed and ready to handle the traffic than Morehead. So, that would be the option I would pursue longterm with our state legislators and our governor.”
But two city council candidates — Frank Madonna and John Presswood — have their doubts about the rail line relocation. They’re concerned with the high costs associated with the change. Frank Madonna says he’s happy the city is pursuing a feasibility study:
Frank Madonna: “We have, in our midst, the former chairman of the CSX rail road. I’ve had an opportunity to sit down and talk with him about this issue. I’ve said in the past that railroads have no place in neighborhoods, and they certainly don’t. But moving the rail road tracks across the river, according to the people that I’ve been speaking to, will make the problem greater not better.”