Tuesday evening, September 19, the Wake Forest Town Board unanimously committed to building a station on the future S-Line between Richmond and Raleigh and in the shorter time frame, a possible/probable commuter rail line between Henderson and Raleigh. The station will be on a historic site, the South White Street parking lot where the Seaboard freight station once stood.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation will oversee the S-Line Mobility Hub Program helping each town along that rail line with federal grants for the planning and construction costs for the hubs (stations) with the towns providing a 20 percent match. Mayor Vivian Jones pointed out Wednesday that NCDOT has applied for that grant from the federal government but has not received it yet.
With the unanimous vote Tuesday, the town pledges to contribute $3.3 million to receive $13.2 million in federal funds. The town will pay in increments as the work proceeds.
It’s “like paying for an Amtrak station in downtown Wake Forest,” Brad West, the town’s long-range planning manager, said, anticipating that a station will be built in 2026.
Mayor Jones said earlier before Tuesday’s meeting that construction could start next year and definitely in 2025. Once the Wake Forest station is complete, the Carolinion service which runs from Raleigh to Charlotte will be extended to Wake Forest.
West added the following information:
1. The Reconnecting Neighborhoods and Communities federal grant funds, totaling $16,500,000 for Wake Forest (including the 20% local match), will be exclusively used for the planning, design and construction of a rail station area platform in Wake Forest that NCDOT intends to be serviced by Amtrak and future commuter rail.
The preferred site for the station location is in Downtown Wake Forest at the former freight depot location (120 S. White Street), now currently serving as a town-owned parking lot. Future high speed rail service is also envisioned to be accommodated by the S-line rail project and NCDOT is still analyzing how that would function within the corridor.
2. In addition to Wake Forest, NCDOT has requested Reconnecting Neighborhoods and Communities federal grant matches from six other jurisdictions, including Sanford, Apex, Youngsville, Franklinton, Henderson, and Norlina.
3. The local funding match from the Town needs to be fully secured by September 2026. Construction will take place after the fact, but a specific date has yet to be determined. Currently, NCDOT and VDOT anticipate the S-line corridor to be up and running by 2030-2031, but this is subject to continued federal support.
Forestville and later Wake Forest were railroad towns long before the first national highway, US 1, came through in 1923 on its way to Key West from the Canadian border in Maine. The Raleigh & Gaston Railroad, the first railroad chartered in North Carolina, reached Forestville in 1840 and Raleigh a few weeks later. It was a spur to growing cotton locally because the product could be sold to brokers and shipped easily. During World War II both the Seaboard Railroad and US 1 carried men, munitions and equipment from north to south and south to north, a vital link in the war effort. There were two tracks up through the early 1970s with passenger service from New York City to Florida, with multiple sidings for industries and businesses and a small switching yard next to the bridge at the Underpass.
Other actions
There was certainly a record-breaking number of men and women who applied for one seat on the Wake Forest Planning Board, 19. Nine of the 19 were at the meeting and each spoke briefly. Immediately afterward the commissioners voted and Anna Shoat, a dentist who has lived in town since 2020 and is attending the Citizens Academy, was elected.
The second empty seat was designated for a resident of the ETJ, and it was filled by the sole applicant, Adam Redler, an engineer who has recently moved from New York State.
Also, after a public hearing on the case, the town board considered the rezoning request for a self-storage building at the end of Friendship Chapel Road just south of Gateway Commons. Commissioner Chad Sary opened the discussion by making a motion to approve although the town planning staff and the planning board had each recommended against approval because the project does not conform with the Community Plan.
“Something is wrong here,” Sary said, because by right of the current zoning for the small steep tract someone could build 10 townhouses on the 2.64 acres with only building permits. He pointed out that the three-story building proposed would be a Class A building, that there would be little traffic, and that the neighbors in the adjoining subdivision had signed a petition for the building and business.
His motion to approve passed three to two with Commissioners Nick Sliwinski and Adam Wright voting no.
The meeting began with a proclamation honoring the PANDAS organization and with a video featuring Jay Jay Wilson, who was just named a Good Neighbor and who has that disability, pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders. The mayor said she had been reading the same proclamation for 10 years and would continue.
After the agenda had been completed and commissioner and mayor comments, Town Manager Kip Padgett told them he had been contacted by someone with Resources for Seniors which provides the programs in the town-owned center. He was told that, because of a large increase in the number of seniors enrolled in the programs there would be a $50,000 shortfall for this year.
Padgett asked if the board would approve taking $50,000 out of the town’s fund balance (savings account) to close the gap, and the board approved that unanimously. Padgett said that looking forward the town should consider how to meet these larger needs.
The board ended the evening by going into a closed session to discuss the negotiations or a contract about purchasing some real property. No action was taken when they returned.
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5 Responses
While I believe a new station that spot would be quaint and reminiscent of the old days, it might prove to be less a less than ideal location by function. Parking is already at a premium downtown. The project at this location would take away valuable needed parking and at the same time add additional vehicles parked long term in remaining parking to the downtown area. Also, I don’t believe the current RR ROW has enough room to put in a side track there. A better location solution would be down more towards the Factory and Roger’s Rd, which would allow more room for dedicated parking, as well as a side track and much easier access.
I agree. That is a much better solution than on the old sight.
This building has been in discussion for years in that location. The parking problem will be helped by the new parking deck being built downtown. NCDOT rail pretty much gets to do whatever they want. The town is trying to make the best of it as the rail line would be popular.
The entire point of a railway station is to connect downtowns and putting it anywhere but right downtown would defeat its purpose. What Wake Forest needs isn’t more parking lots it is transportation like the s-line and greenway connections for bikers. We already approved a bond for a parking deck and shouldn’t expand further.
Thank you. Very helpful!