Charlotte East Community Partners, Inc.

From The Business Journal re TRANSIT

N.C. gets $470,000 grant for rail study (10.9.03)

The N.C. Department of Transportation has been awarded $470,000 for studies that could clear the way for development of a Southeast high-speed rail corridor.

The Federal Railroad Administration grant is for environmental impact studies along a stretch of the proposed route between Raleigh and Petersburg, Va.

Initial plans call for the N.C. route to go through Norlina, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Charlotte.

The Southeast system's average speed of 85 to 87 miles per hour would take travelers from Charlotte to Washington slightly more than six hours to complete.

According to the office of U.S. Sen. John Edwards, the completed rail project could generate millions for the N.C. economy.

U.S. Senate OKs light-rail funding (10-03)

The U.S. Senate has approved $950 million for transportation projects in North Carolina, including $18 million for construction of Charlotte's south corridor light-rail project.

Expected to become operational in 2006, the 10-mile rail line will connect uptown and Interstate 485 north of Pineville.

The city will also receive $5 million for a Charlotte Area Transit System bus-maintenance and operations center.

Of the $950 million in federal funds, $850 million is earmarked for N.C. highway projects.

The appropriations, announced by the office of U.S. Sen. John Edwards, are part of a $45 billion funding bill that will now go to conference commitee.