title
Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Enter into an Agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) for the Downtown Trail Phase 1 Design Project
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Department: |
WMPO |
Meeting Date: |
6/3/2025 |
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Contact Name: |
Abby Lorenzo |
Public Hearing: |
No |
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Contact Phone: |
(910) 341-7890 |
Advertising Date/Advertised By: |
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Attachments: |
Resolution Authorizing Agreement with NCDOT for Downtown Trail Ph.1 |
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this resolution is to authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) for the Downtown Trail Phase 1 Design project. A companion ordinance appropriates funds in the amount of $431,200 from the North Carolina Department of Transportation for the Downtown Trail Phase 1 Design Project.
BACKGROUND:
The Downtown Trail was identified in the New Hanover County/City of Wilmington Comprehensive Greenway Plan in 2013 as a 5.9-mile, multi-use path providing connection between Downtown Wilmington, and the parks and neighborhoods east of downtown to Forest Hills. Ranked as the top priority project within this plan, benefits of the proposed trail include a dedicated bicycle and pedestrian path that will provide a safe means of connectivity to transit and other Downtown amenities for traditionally underserved communities within the Northside and Love Grove Neighborhoods.
Phase 1 of the Downtown Trail is an approximately 1.7-mile segment beginning at 3rd Street in the Downtown within the NCDOT-owned rail corridor to McRae Street; abutting the Dorothy B. Johnson Elementary School western parcel line; traversing east along CSX right-of-way to Archie Blue Park; and continuing north through Archie Blue Park, parallel to the creek, and terminating at the Love Grove Bridge multi-use path facility.
The project was federally funded in 2022 with the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (“WMPO”) direct allocation of Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (“CRRSAA”) funds. These one-time allocated funds, in the amount of $680,000, were granted at 100% federal share with no local matching contribution required of the City. The project began in late 2022 with necessary coordination with the railroad owners of property, NCDOT Rail and CSX, whose proposals regarding the trail resulted in a nearly 2-year pause on the design effort. Additionally, new design elements (including the moving of a retaining wall in the “Gulch” corridor have been identified as conditions for the future trail’s location within NCDOT owned property.
The two-year delay and new design elements resulted in a significant increase in the cost to complete the design project. On March 18, 2025, the Wilmington City Council unanimously approved authorizing the City of Wilmington to apply to the WMPO for the additional Surface Transportation Block Grant Program - Direct Attributable Funds in the amount of $431,200 and providing the (20%) local match in the amount of $107,800 from the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee funding. On March 26, 2025, the WMPO’s Board voted unanimously to allocate the additional Direct Attributable funding in the amount of $431,000 for the completion of the project.
budget
BUDGET IMPACT:
A companion ordinance appropriates $431,000 from the North Carolina Department of Transportation to the Downtown Trail Phase 1 Design Project (2TRST2215).
recommendation
RECOMMENDATION / ACTION REQUESTED:
Passage of the attached Resolution is recommended.