Recreation director briefs commissioners on multimodal feasibility study and railroad corridor acquisition timeline

Person County recreation director John Hill provided commissioners an informational update Sept. 15 on the multimodal feasibility study and the prospective acquisition of the U.S. 501 railroad corridor.

Hill recapped a multiyear process that included an NCDOT-funded feasibility study and local CIP requests to position Person County for management control of the corridor. He said the Conservation Fund has signed a contract with Norfolk Southern and is in due diligence; NCDOT called a partners meeting and indicated a likely closing window of November 2025 through January 2026. Hill said NCDOT will hold the corridor as a transportation (rail-bank) corridor and that local jurisdictions that elect management control will be expected to provide roughly 20% of project costs as a match. "So moving forward if Person County continues to be a partner of this and move forward with the acquisition... you're gonna secure your management control of the railroad corridor," Hill said.

Hill emphasized that management control does not automatically require constructing a trail: purchasing management rights "does not buy a person in developing a trail," he said, and any trail development would require separate appropriations, engineering and lengthy processes. He also noted partners such as East Coast Greenway had contributed funds (the presentation referenced a $1,000,000 contribution) and that if Person County declined to participate, NCDOT and partners would offer management control to other jurisdictions.

Commissioners asked whether management control would include maintenance obligations and whether any future agreement could require county appropriations; county attorney and staff said they would review management-rights documents and flag any binding obligations before the board committed. No formal vote was taken; this item was informational only.