The N.C. Department of Transportation has been awarded a grant to help bring passenger rail to Sanford and other North Carolina communities between Virginia and South Carolina.
The Federal Transit Authority granted NCDOT’s Integrated Mobility Division $900,000 to develop the S-Line corridor. Sanford is one of six municipalities who contributed matching funds for the grant. The other towns are Apex, Franklinton, Henderson, Raleigh, and Wake Forest.
“We’re grateful to be working with cities and towns that understand how passenger rail service can spur economic development,” said Julie White, NCDOT’s deputy secretary for Multimodal Transportation. “This is a great opportunity to use passenger rail to better connect rural and urban communities. It should serve as a model for future projects.”
The towns will use the grant money to develop plans for the areas around the rail stations. The plans will explore how the rail stations will bolster economic development in their town centers and enable these communities to plan for connections to bus service, micro transit, bicycle paths and greenways.
“Sanford is thrilled with the prospect of having passenger rail on the S-Line,” says Mayor Chet Mann. “This project will usher in a new wave of economic development around an area in our town already designated for revitalization.”
Read NCDOT’s release about the grant here.