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Wilmington, NC Rail Realignment Project

PROJECT WEBSITE: https://railroads.dot.gov/environment/environmental-reviews/wilmington-nc-rail-…

All dates below are specific to the schedule of the Environmental Review and Permitting processes for this project.

Complete

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PERMITTING STATUS
COMPLETE

icon_calendar

COMPLETION DATE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PERMITTING
12/18/2024

2 out of 2

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PERMITTING PROCESSES
COMPLETED

Surface Transportation

SECTOR
Surface Transportation

Project Category

CATEGORY
Project Category DOT Projects

Department of Transportation

LEAD AGENCY
Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration

Description:

The Wilmington Rail Realignment Project (Project) is located primarily within the City of Wilmington (City) and New Hanover County, NC, but also extends into Brunswick County, NC. The existing CSXT rail line, commonly referred to as the Beltline, is the only active track through the City. The Project proposes to reroute existing and anticipated future freight traffic between the Port of Wilmington in Hanover County and CSXT's Davis Yard in the Town of Navassa, Brunswick County, from the existing Beltline to a new, approximately four-mile rail alignment with two new crossings of the Cape Fear River. The Project will improve safety, regional transportation mobility, and freight rail operations, while also improving the resiliency, reliability, and operational fluidity of the sole freight rail route connecting southeastern North Carolina with the Port of Wilmington (Port).

All current freight traffic moving from Davis Yard and the Port travels along Port-owned railroad operated by the Wilmington Terminal Railroad (WTRY), a Class III rail carrier and subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming, to connect to CSXT's Beltline at South 2nd Street in Wilmington. The Beltline forms an east-west-oriented "V" through the City. There are 32 at-grade crossings (30 public and 2 private crossings) on the CSXT and WTRY lines, generally along South Front Street where the WTRY tracks run parallel in the center of the street before crossing over the street to serve Colonial Oil. The Beltline crosses the Northeast Cape Fear River via the Hilton Bridge north of downtown Wilmington to access Davis Yard via the SE Line. Existing freight operations along the Beltline vary from day to day depending on shipper demand and CSXT and/or WTRY resource planning. However, all freight trains moving from Davis Yard and the Port currently travel the entirety of the Beltline, while other CSXT and WTRY trains traverse portions of the Beltline in the performance of local switching operations for the three existing local shippers.

Currently, the Project is unfunded.

Permitting Timetable

The permitting timetable below displays data as reported by agencies. Dates for Environmental Review and Permitting processes (Actions) that are in 'Paused' or 'Planned' status are subject to change and are not indicative of a project's final schedule.

  • For information about extensions, select an Action from the timetable below and select 'View Action Details' at the bottom of the page.
Overall Project Timetable
 
STATUS
Schedule
Extension or Delay
Ahead of Schedule
Paused
No End Date
Planned

Action Information

For additional information, please select an Action from the Permitting Timetable above.

  • Action:  
  • Responsible Agency:  
  • Bureau:  
  • Action Status:  
  • SHPO:  
  • Action Identifier:  
  • Action Outcome:  
Milestone Original Target Date Current Target Date Milestone Complete
View Action Details