North Carolina’s transportation secretary says the state is using a wide-ranging maritime study to take a fresh look at how the state can use its ports to create jobs, not merely consider a proposed megaport in Brunswick County.
Transportation Secretary Gene Conti said Wednesday that the $1.7 million study known as the N.C. Maritime Strategy will consider different scenarios for improving port business. That includes the megaport but also other possibilities, such as whether the state should modernize the existing ports in Morehead City and Wilmington.
Supporters of the deepwater port say they hope this study will lead to a feasibility study of the proposed megaport. Opponents fear it will be just another costly study used to justify a megaport.