The North Carolina Board of Transportation has awarded $350,000 in state funds for preliminary engineering of track improvements on the Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation railroad lines in Pitt County between the 14th Street and Arlington Road crossings.

The project entails moving the rail switching yard to north of downtown Greenville and building a new connector track to minimize disruption of both highway and rail traffic.

“This project will improve the flow of traffic through downtown, including emergency response vehicles from the medical facilities located nearby,” said Marvin Blount III of Greenville, who represents Pitt County on the board.

The project is funded by NC Moving Ahead!, a $700 million transportation initiative aimed at highway preservation and modernization, as well as public transportation and rail improvements. This contract was awarded to STV/Ralph Whitehead Associates Inc. of Charlotte for the second phase of the project, which includes environmental documentation and design of the new switching yard and connector track.

The work on this phase will begin in September. Construction of the improvements is scheduled to begin in 2008.

The first phase of the project included a study of traffic disruption in the area.

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