Overview: Money is flowing and plans are being developed for the S-Line, which will be a rail line from Petersburg, Va., to Raleigh using existing CSX freight lines between Raleigh and the NC-VA state line and newly-rebuilt lines in Virginia.
Until the Virginia component is ready for use the North Carolina portion could become a commuter-based rail line with one of its depots in Wake Forest.
On September 19, 2023, the Wake Forest Town Board agreed to contribute $3.3 million to receive $13.2 million in federal funding for the planning, design and infrastructure construction costs for a station in Wake Forest as well as the final design, right-of-way acquisition and construction. These funds are separate from track realignment and grade separation.
The request for the federal grant to build that station and others has not yet been submitted, Mayor Vivian Jones said recently, but she anticipates construction possibly starting in 2024, definitely in 2025. The station site has been designated by CSX as the former freight depot, long gone but now a parking lot the town owns on South White Street.
What benefits do you see coming to Wake Forest from the S-Line? Do you know of other plans for stores or businesses possibly coming to town?
What are some projects either being considered or that you think should be?
Jim Thompson
Unfortunately I haven’t seen many suburban cities like Wake Forest have much look with mass-transit. That’s not to say that I don’t want it to work. We just must be very intentional about our comprehensive planning.
There are several candidates that have suggested we discontinue building high-density areas in town, however, that is one reason why suburban mass transit fails – lack of density. If are to spend the money, we must want it to succeed. There also must be a commitment to ensuring that “last-mile connectivity”. Micro transit would offer that option.
If this project is successful, it could lead to obvious benefits like reduced traffic congestion, increased mobility, enhanced quality of life and economic development.
When I think of other potential projects for the town, one area I don’t hear us talking much about is in the area of travel and tourism. Many aren’t aware, but Wake County collects a 6% countywide tax on hotel room occupancy and 1% on prepared food and beverage. Those dollars help fund development of facilities that look to increase travel and tourism. Wake Forest is well positioned to leverage our sporting destination niche and our quality of place. Wake Forest should strive to increase its share of the countywide tourism business—whether through increased leisure travel, sports tournaments, smaller meetings, or leveraging existing festivals and events. For a look at our complete destination strategic plan, click here.
For more information about my campaign pillars, visit www.jimthompsonforWF.com. And don’t forget to mark your calendars to vote on Nov. 7 in town and Oct. 19 at the Wake County Board of Elections.
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Adam Wright
Having a route that allows commuters to park and ride into Raleigh is a significant boon for Wake Forest. It’s a proactive step in reducing traffic congestion, especially on Capital Rd. Each car we can take off the road contributes to a smoother, less congested daily commute for our residents
I’m thrilled about the two food halls making their way to our downtown area. Moreover, I’ve actively engaged in efforts to bring popular chains like Cook Out and Trader Joe’s to our town. I’ve recently heard positive signals from Cook Out about exploring our community, so there’s hope on the horizon. On another note, Gym Tacos is set to open in the old Hardee’s building in our downtown area, and the word is they offer delicious fare. Additionally, we’re anticipating the arrival of Dave’s Hot Chicken at Grove 98 and Alpaca Charcoal Chicken off Main Street. Our restaurant scene is about to explode with exciting options! I’m also committed to supporting local restaurants’ growth and new ventures.
One of my top priorities is to expand our pedestrian infrastructure, including the construction of more sidewalks and pedestrian bridges over some of our busiest roads. This will enhance safety and accessibility for our residents. Furthermore, as the performance art theater feasibility study nears completion, I’m eager to continue working towards making that project a reality. It has the potential to enrich our cultural offerings and create a vibrant arts scene in Wake Forest.
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Tom Ballman
Benefits of the S-Line is an intriguing prospect. The massive public investment in the acquisition of right-of-way currently allocated for both North Carolina and Virginia tells the beginning of a story where significant changes in transportation modes might just happen for our area. One could envision this as more feasible TODAY to execute than, say Capital Expressway as a comparison point.
The S-Line could provide residents a substantial quality of life measure along the corridor for both business and pleasure. This has all been set in place despite plenty of anecdotal evidence that rail does not pay for itself over time. One such article, here – https://www.aquicore.com/blog/everyone-want-public-transit-pay
My history of utilizing rail for commuting during my years up north had an enormous effect on work/life/play paradigm in my late 20’s and into my 30’s. It was a blessing to ‘wind up’ for work enroute in the morning and ‘wind down’ on the train at the end of the day. A significant quality of life improvement with my 50+ mile commute. This was with Amtrak, and that commute was whittled down to 37 minutes station to station, for instance after track improvements. Those track improvements were replacing the wood railroad ties, with concrete ones.
So yes, the benefits are significant coming to Wake Forest, and commuting out of Wake Forest. I am not particularly plugged into plans for stores or businesses coming to downtown. Higher densities within the downtown and downtown edge should be significantly addressed as the Renaissance plan is updated, for instance. I also believe that pedestrian connectivity to the downtown from all directions would go a long way towards the success of the S-line.
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Ben Clapsaddle
In 1874 when the Raleigh & Gaston Railroad moved its depot from Forestville to the Town of Wake Forest College, Forestville began a slow decline both economically and in population and could not attract businesses or new opportunities. Forestville became irrelevant and slowly became a footnote in history.
The proposed S-Line route will connect a network of communities from Virginia, the Carolinas and into Georgia. This will also provide connectors to other major hubs up and down the eastern seaboard. Participating in this plan will ensure Wake Forest does not get by-passed and are part of a transportation network that will benefit our citizens, our businesses, our environment and helping with the reduction of traffic within the greater Wake County footprint.
The Town Leadership’s strategic vision will ensure we take advantage of changes in transportation and economic opportunities the S-Line will bring to those cities participating. This will also help Wake Forest to grow in positive ways and not become a footnote in history.
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Faith Cross
The train is a fundamental and distinctive part of Wake Forest. Whenever I hear the train whistle, I am reminded of the small town charm of this place. We have three designated areas that will potentially be developed as passenger rail service, and eventual commuter rail and high-speed rail. These areas are downtown Wake Forest, Forestville and S. Main near 98 bypass, and Capital Boulevard near Burlington Mills (near the old Mill).
As I consider the downtown Wake Forest site specifically, my first thought is safety. Giving access to our downtown via train, specifically next to a college campus with young people, and young families (b/c of the seminary), is something we need to do with the consideration of safety. That will be my first priority and highest consideration as a commissioner when I think about that location. My second thought is design in that area. I would like to see any design, including future development of that area, be in keeping with the historic look and feel of our downtown. Here is a proposed renderings: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5909c880f5e2314ab79d62b3/t/63dd68d838fcfd76031e921d/1675454688464/S-Line_Wake-Forest_Downtown_Rendering.pdf
The other two sites have exciting opportunities for development, though, as always, infrastructure needs to be a first consideration. Both locations have historic value and I would love to see that as part of their design. Renderings for these sites: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5909c880f5e2314ab79d62b3/t/63dd68ad396035148b2ddbd7/1675454643326/S-Line_Wake-Forest_Capital-Blvd_Rendering.pdf
Lastly, I would also strongly advocate for public art at all the TOD locations.
Bringing rail access to Wake Forest has pros with possible improvement of traffic as people use the train to commute to Raleigh, and cons as we consider where we give access to our town and safety considerations.
One project I look forward to seeing move forward is at the Wake Forest Reservoir! Growth of and enhancement of our green spaces is very important to me, especially as our land is being so rapidly developed. The removal of the storage tanks, the addition of a parking lot, restrooms and dock will make this beautiful natural area more accessible. The possible rental of kayaks/paddleboards would be a fun way to enjoy the water. Being able to walk the entire perimeter via connecting natural paths will be wonderful. It will be a very different style of park than Joyner, and a nice contrast- as both are beautiful. I look forward to that space being enhanced. Green space projects are a high priority for me, and what I consider first when discussions of any upcoming development arise.
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Joe Kimray
There are many benefits coming to Wake Forest from the S line, but the most important is traffic mitigation.
Multimodal transportation is something that we have desired for many years in not just Wake Forest – but this entire region. Our region is almost solely dependent on vehicular traffic – this includes public transportation such as buses and ride share services (Uber, Lyft, etc.) – with very few other options available to our residents.
During my two trips to Washington DC in the past few months, I never once used a vehicle. Aside from walking around the Capitol Hill area, my sole form of transportation around the city was the Metro (subway).
Providing a commuter rail line will help us lessen the burden on Capital Boulevard during peak commuter times. It will also provide everyone an opportunity to enjoy dining, shopping, and other events in the region – without ever needing to sit behind the wheel of a vehicle.
I look forward to a day when we can utilize microtransit from our home to the train station here in Wake Forest, hop on the train, travel to Durham for a Bulls game or a show at the DPAC, return to Wake Forest that same evening on the train, and again utilize microtransit to return home from the train station.
Once the option is available to people in this region, I believe that it will be used by many. It may very well take an additional 20 to 30 minutes to get that far. However, being able to do so with the ability to enjoy time together as a family – while not sitting in traffic – will make it a very appealing form of transportation for many people.
Regarding other stores or businesses coming to the area – yes, I have heard of a number of businesses that are currently looking at Wake Forest. With that said, I also believe a business has the right to make that announcement on their own schedule. As a result, I will not be disclosing any knowledge I may have in that realm to protect their privacy.
I believe that we need to focus more on commercial and industrial uses in our town. One specific area would be restaurants. We have many great restaurants already, but they are at capacity most evenings. I also want to recruit additional large employers to our Town to provide great work options for our citizens. That allows families to spend more time together, without parents having to commute great distances simply to support the family.
If elected, I hope to work with the Town Economic Development Director to respond to inquiries from all interested companies – and provide that voice for our Town when they ask why they should be in our community.
As I’ve said many times in this campaign – building relationships is one of the most important duties of serving as a Town Commissioner. Utilizing the relationships that we work hard to build is how we will accomplish the goals we have set for ourselves over the next 10+ years.
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3 Responses
A question that is not asked is: How many people would actually use it? I do not believe that there are enough people who work in downtown Raleigh to make it viable. I know of very few people who live near downtown Wake Forest who work in downtown Raleigh. The low ridership on the bus to downtown Raleigh should be an indication. Everyone speaks of maintaining the charm, but from what I understand there will be quite a few historical buildings that need to be demolished including the dentist office and part of rhe funeral home. That is not my dentist and I hope I don’t need to use the funeral home anytime soon; however both put efforts to utilize those buildings and it is nice to know they are there. Lastly we must ask if this is a need or a want and is this the best use of public money?
Mr. Reck where did you hear about the 2 historic buildings? Who do I need to fuss at? Over my dead body will NCDOT demolish a portion of Bright’s! Wake up Wake Forest!
The S-Line is nothing but a money pit. Look at how much progress has been made with the high speed train from LA to San Francisco. They are 3 years past the deadline of completion & there is not even a mile of track that has been laid. It’s almost a $200 Billion fail!
Any candidate that supports this is setting WF up for an even worse traffic situation. NCDOT loves to make promises they can’t keep. Look at the widening project for Highway 98 from the ’60s or ’70s. It has not been completed yet. Look at the Capital Blvd project from the 90’s it has not been completed yet.
Candidates stop with the smoke & mirrors routine! This is bologna! Stop falling for the promises that NCDOT never intends to keep! Stop supporting NC & the federal government wasting our tax dollars on empty promises. I don’t care if Joe Biden himself showed up here to hand the mayor a check. It’s NOT happening! We are not Raleigh! No one is coming to save us!
the s line won’t work, I live 3 mile from downtown and am handicapped I don’t like the trafic but wake county has already destroybed the small town Wake Forest was an it aint coming’ back. all the farms around wake forest are gone turned ito housing develpments , that are to far from the s line to benifit fro it