A controversial rail hub appears to have found a home in eastern North Carolina.
CSX first proposed building the container shipping hub in Johnston County earlier this year, but local opposition forced that project to be moved elsewhere.
Governor Pat McCrory, CSX executives and local officials gathered in Rocky Mount to make the announcement yesterday.
Leonard Wiggins, chair of the Edgecombe County Board of Commissioners, praised the facility and the economic benefits he said it will bring.
“This is a railroad community,” Wiggins said. “All of us know somebody that’s been associated with the railroad.”
CSX said it will invest $160 million into the container shipping hub, and the state will offer more than $100 million in incentives.
McCrory touted the facility at an event this morning, broadcast online by ABC 11.
“This is a game-changing announcement of a major new logistics and transportation facility which will help connect, not only eastern North Carolina with the rest of the state, but connect North Carolina with the rest of the nation,” McCrory said.
The CSX facility is expected to be complete in Edgecombe County by 2020.
Copyright 2016 North Carolina Public Radio
