NCDOT Begins Second S-Line Grade-Separation at New Hope Church Road

Crews have moved onto New Hope Church Road in Raleigh and started building a grade-separation bridge to carry vehicles over the S‑Line tracks, NCDOT announced as visible work began in late February 2026. NCDOT described the New Hope Church Road structure as the S‑Line passenger rail’s second grade-separation project in Wake County and held a media tour of the site with State Transportation Secretary Daniel Johnson to mark the milestone.

The bridge project is being described in local coverage as costing nearly $23 million, though earlier contract figures put the project at about $19.6 million. NCDOT awarded the New Hope Church Road contract in late 2024, and the agency estimates the structure will take about three years to complete; the contractor name and final contract documents were not included in the materials released with the site announcement.

The on‑site start is part of a larger funding package for the Raleigh‑to‑Wake‑Forest segment. NCDOT says it secured “a more than $1 billion federal grant” in December 2023 to design and construct that first segment; other reporting cites a $1.09 billion Federal‑State Partnership grant to cover final design, right‑of‑way acquisition and construction for Raleigh‑to‑Wake‑Forest. Project leaders have estimated the Raleigh‑to‑Wake‑Forest portion could be complete around 2032, while NCDOT and other officials continue to describe the overall schedule as dependent on funding and land acquisition.

New Hope Church Road follows similar grade‑separation work that began on Durant Road in 2024 and joins planned grade separations at Millbrook Road and Rogers Road once the state acquires necessary land. NCDOT’s public materials place the New Hope Church Road work among early, visible pieces of the long-running effort to rebuild the former CSX S‑Line corridor and restore passenger service between Raleigh and Richmond. Hoodline characterized the New Hope Church Road start as “one of the first big, visible pieces” of that decades‑long program.

The broader S‑Line program has a long regulatory and acquisition history: NCDOT completed a Final Environmental Impact Statement in 2015, the Federal Railroad Administration issued a Record of Decision in 2017, and North Carolina and Virginia purchased the abandoned right-of-way between Centralia and Norlina in 2020 for $47.5 million as part of prior federal grant conditions. A July 1, 2024 groundbreaking included participation by then U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and state officials.

Traffic impacts at New Hope Church Road are the immediate local consequence: the new overpass is intended to eliminate the need for vehicles to stop for trains at the crossing and reduce congestion at that intersection. Agency communications headline the campaign “Construction on S‑Line Advances.” NCDOT lists its Communications Office at (919) 707‑2660 and general contact lines 1‑877‑368‑4968 and DMV 919‑715‑7000 for additional information; the agency directs the public to its S‑Line project page for project updates and documents.