Business View Magazine Apr-2023

128 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 4 One of these grants will fund a complete streets project in Rutherford County, transforming a high-traffic corridor with improved mobility for bicyclists, pedestrians, and public transit users. Another gives life to one of the most innovative multimodal initiatives the department has sought yet: the planning and preliminary design for mobility hubs alongside the S-Line rail corridor. The S-Line is a freight rail corridor that connects Richmond to Tampa. In partnership with the Southeast Corridor Commission, NCDOT is restoring a strategic portion of the corridor that is currently not in service to provide high-performance passenger rail service and freight service from Raleigh to Richmond. The new route will better link the two states’ rail systems with a high-capacity, high-frequency corridor, giving travelers better options for mobility and productivity. NCDOT’s Rail Division previously secured two grants worth nearly $107 million for the acquisition and preliminary engineering for the S-Line and is preparing for the construction of the line through Federal Railroad Administration grant programs provided under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The corridor is the missing link needed to connect rural and urban communities from Virginia through the Triangle of North Carolina. This expansion will place North Carolina communities along the S-Line with a higher speed connection and reduced travel times to destinations within the Triangle, the state, and along the east coast. The Mobility Hub Plan is a multi- dimensional approach and will be a key contributor to enhancing mobility options, promoting social equity, and increasing network resiliency, environmental awareness, and economic prosperity. Mobility hubs are places of connectivity where different travel options (e.g., intercity trains, commuter rail service, pedestrian, bicycle, transit/micro-transit, shared mobility) come