Eastern North Carolina will never obtain the highway system that alone is required for the economic growth and development for its citizenry to achieve the standard of living it needs. Politically we have lost the level of influence once held in state government. The money available for highways is running out and the major vote centers in the west are getting the lion share. Environmentally we are doomed due to the excessive amount of “wetlands” that make up the east. Politicians are making certain that every “protectionist environmental regulation” is microscopically applied to every project considered. The state in its infinite wisdom has established the “equity formula” for allocating funds for highway construction which dooms the east into a position of never catching up with the west that has received much more than their share for so many years.
Do we throw up our hands and surrender to the inevitable demise of our beloved down east? Is there a way out other than becoming the poor wards of the state that some of the professors at UNC Charlotte predict? Do we fight back in the traditional way and bemoan the plight that we find ourselves in and finding all those from the past to blame? Is there another way out of the dilemma that we find ourselves in? Do we look to the future for some miraculous new transportation system not yet invented or dreamed of?
I prefer to look to the future by resurrecting our strength from the past. This great state grew and prospered first around its ports, then rivers, then railroads long before our fine road system was even a dream. When built the Wilmington and Weldon Rail Road was the longest in the world. We were ahead of the times. The same applied to the NCRR from Beaufort/ Morehead City to Charlotte when it was built. These valuable assets remain. For most routes the rights of way have been preserved and are available for development or in some cases redevelopment and in most instances with out significant environmental obstacles.
We still have the excellent ports here in the east with tremendous potential, but limited mainly by the inability to move the cargo inland efficiently and economically. Granted there are limitations to the depth of the channel for Wilmington Port and the distance up river from the deep water shipping lanes is a factor. Even so there will always be freighters that are not super sized carriers. There will always be need for vessels to service to markets that can not handle the massive amounts of cargo that the largest ships handle. Not all markets are New York or Los Angeles.
The port of Morehead City can be made to handle any draft vessel conceivable. It is immediately accessible from the open sea shipping lanes allowing for fast in and out with greatly increased productivity for the operator. It is a container port. It is a bulk commodity handling facility. It has everything going for it except a way to move the cargo once it is on land that is efficient and economical. It was the reason that the North Carolina Railroad was built! Tragically the rail road was allowed to fall into disrepair and obsolescence before the current activity to restore it and make it into a modern facility.
There are many factors that enter into the problem at hand. One is that the Norfolk and Southern Rail Road leases the line and operates the railroad. They do so in competition with themselves on lines that they own out of the Norfolk port area. They provide service to customers along the line that cannot be served any other way by rail, but often at rates that are not desirable. These rates are set by the rail road with little room for negotiation. I think they would like to see a little increase in traffic but under these tariffs, but not at the expense of Norfolk port area traffic. This seems to be a slight conflict of interest.
It has been established that one rail line is equal to 16 lanes of super highway in traffic capacity. We have that one rail line and can never foresee having 16 lanes of super highway anywhere in the east. The right away that exists will allow for double lining the entire route in the east. For a modest investment when compared to the cost of new highway construction (if such were environmentally possible), the freight handling capacity of the port of Morehead City could be increased dramatically. When using the cost per mile of the current US-117 project in Wilson and Wayne counties, it is estimated that more than 6 miles of double rail line on existing right of way including bridges and signaling, for the cost of each mile of highway.
An idea has been put forth to create an “inland port” near the intersection of I-95 and I-40. Containers received in at Morehead City and placed on unit trains to that facility to be loaded onto trucks for delivery to the ultimate destination. Doing so would allow the port at Morehead to achieve its potential that will never occur waiting for an interstate highway to be built.
Improvements to the rails would allow passenger service with out interference with freight service. It could even allow for proper and safe integration of light rail commuter service along these same rails. Such service into the Triangle area would open that employee starved job market to the under employed workers from the east. Some businesses prefer a non metropolitan location but need to be in the proximity to the amenities of such and would find it feasible to locate into lower cost smaller communities so desperately in need of economic development.
Many of the smaller communities in the east grew up around their train station. Their streets are laid out in a pattern perfect for commuters. The station is within walking distance. The real estate close by in most cases now is low in value and ripe for redevelopment or historic restoration.
The main economic engine remaining in the east is the military presence. The commander of one of the premier installations has informed the governor of our state that a consideration of the forthcoming BRAC on closing bases would be the lack of acceptable surface transportation to rail passenger and “Hub” airport transportation centers. This is a major consideration, is a definite red mark against us and a reason to consider closing our bases or relocation major portions of the missions present. The loss of one day’s economic impact from any of our installations would pay the cost of more than a mile of rail and associated support. This area would never recover from the loss of even our smallest facility yet the cost of this needed infrastructure fix is so small.
Another significant portion of the economy down east is tourism. Morehead City port is not considered by cruise line operators as a stop due to the lack of suitable transportation for the number of passengers carried on board. The ports authority states that if rail road passenger service were available, inland day trips could be offered for such cruise passengers to historic sites in the east and Morehead City Port would be considered.
The availability of convenient passenger service to the coast from our major population centers would be a boon to beach goers and well as the tourism industry. Major traffic tie ups along the route from the west to the coast is causing major problems and accidents almost year round. The problems along the traditional route to the beach are causing a reorientation of destinations further compounding the problems for the central portion of the east and its beaches. More and more beach goers are traveling I-40 to the southern beaches and South Carolina.
The Rural Prosperity Task Force established by Governor Hunt, headed by Erskin Bowles and composed of some of the most prestigious minds in this state, identified US-70 and the US-70 bypass around Goldsboro as the most important highway problems in the entire state. That was the principal reason given standing in the way of economic development for the east, even more so after the devastating floods following hurricane Floyd and the loss of the tobacco based agricultural economy. Nothing has been done to reflect this finding and the projected date for completion of just the bypass alone is the year 2014 or later. Even though the road improvements are still needed, improved rail service which is doable right now, will alleviate many of those problems identified by that task force.
This state and its economy is frighteningly dependant on gasoline and diesel fuel brought in via pipeline. We have one major pipeline serving the terminals at Apex and Selma. Were it or either terminal be destroyed by an act of terrorism or other disaster, what would we do? We have lost the POL facility at the Radio Island facility in the Morehead City Port and the only other possibility to receive fuels and petroleum products into this state now rest at the Wilmington Port P.O.L. facility. Our military bases are helpless if their fuel supply is interrupted. Our tourism industry stops when cars stop as we saw during the 1970’s “gas shortage”. Our agriculture, poultry and hog operations would cease and massive losses occur should such an interruption occur. At present there is no economical means to move fuel from the Wilmington port into the east and the corridors that would become so devastated. The city of Wilmington streets could not accommodate the number of trucks that would be necessary. The old Wilmington and Weldon Rail Road line is missing a segment of track and the bridge over the Cape Fear River at Castle Haynes must be replaced. The road bed is in good condition, is in the possession of the NC D.O.T. and would be a relatively low cost investment to restore.
Such a restoration of service to the north out of Wilmington would vastly improve the competitive position of the Wilmington port. It would also provide the route for the passenger service desired by citizens of that area into the transportation corridor leading to the north east as well as into the Raleigh area.
In summation, we as a state are being blind to an economical, affordable, and doable in an immediate time frame solution to many of the problems plaguing the east alluded to above. These comments only scratch the surface of the benefits restoration of the exceptional rail service that once existed in the east could bring.
David Quick