Around the State: Durham Rescues Light Rail Project
Legislators attempting to scuttle the Orange-Durham light rail project will now find Durham County standing in the gap.
The Triangle’s first light rail project may be back on track, despite the machinations of a persistent cabal of anti-rail state senators. This time it was Durham County steaming to the rescue, by identifying the source for a $57.6 million funding gap created by legislators’ manipulations of state transportation funding rules.
Last week, the Durham County Board of Commissioners approved a letter to the Triangle’s public transit agency (GoTriangle) guaranteeing the extra funding. The combined state and local funding guarantee should now be sufficient to procure a 50% federal funding match for the project’s construction.
Durham County Commission Chair Wendy Jacobs said the additional funding was made possible by strong growth in Durham’s dedicated transit revenues, and will not take away from any other transit commitments, including bus services. The new light rail guarantee was broadly supported by local community and business organizations.
It’s time for anti-rail legislators to finally step out of the way, or be run over by the oncoming political train.
