Wilmington council to consider chipping in for $300,000 rail move study

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Wilmington City Council next week will consider spending money to look into possibly moving a rail line out of the city.

Earlier this month council talked about the idea during an agenda briefing. City staff believes moving the CSX rail line across the river will help reduce congestion and improve traffic safety in Wilmington, especially as the population continues to grow. They’ve also suggested using the existing rail bed to create a trolley line.

Tuesday night council will consider a resolution “supporting the future allocation of $100,000 to study the feasibility of relocating the CSX rail line out of the city,” a news release from the city says.

According to the city, the current proposal is for Wilmington, the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and NCDOT to contribute $100,000 each for the study. According to Tuesday’s agenda, the money would come from at least $100,000 unspent from the last fiscal year and specifically earmarked for Council Contingency/Economic Development purposes.

We reached out to CSX, which owns the train tracks, but have not heard back.