Congresswoman Ross Secures More Than $26 Million for Wake County Projects 

Washington, D.C. — Today (Dec. 21), Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02) announced that she secured $26,890,641 for community projects across Wake County in the omnibus funding bill for the Fiscal Year 2023. This critical funding will invest in projects that provide accessible health care, affordable housing, public safety projects, quality education, and more. The U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate are expected to vote on the package this week.

“I fought for funding for these essential projects because I know they will make a positive difference in our community,” said Congresswoman Ross. “This week, we are coming back to Washington and putting politics aside to make government work for the American people. From Raleigh to Wendell, these projects address critical needs in Wake County and represent transformational investments in families, students, seniors, and more. I look forward to voting for this package and working with local leaders to ensure these projects deliver tangible results for North Carolina.”

Earlier this year, Congresswoman Ross secured $10.7 million in funding for Wake County community projects in the Fiscal Year 2022 government funding package. The projects and funding in the Fiscal Year 2023 package are listed below.

Community Projects

Project Name: WakeMed Behavioral Health Hospital

Amount Secured: $6,000,000

Description: WakeMed Health & Hospitals will use this funding to establish a behavioral health hospital that will help Wake County cope with the rising number of mental health and substance-use cases. The facility will accept all clinically appropriate patients regardless of their ability to pay. It will provide a full continuum of mental health services to adolescents, adults, and geriatric patients and substance-use services to all ages.

Project Name: Wake County Public Health Center

Amount Secured: $2,000,000

Description: Wake County will use this funding to construct a new Public Health Center. The new 151,000-square-foot building will house a variety of health clinics, along with pharmacy and lab facilities, as well as ancillary and complimentary social services programs. Wake County Public Health is the safety net clinical provider for uninsured residents. The County’s 11 clinics served approximately 26,000 residents in 2021. Its pharmacy provides approximately 60,000 prescriptions each year, many of which people could not obtain without Wake County Public Health services.

Project Name: Maynard Road Multifamily Housing in Cary

Amount Secured: $1,000,000

Description: The Maynard Road Multifamily Housing is a planned 127-unit housing development that will provide quality, affordable, mixed-income rental units at below-market rents in a prime area of Cary, North Carolina. The development is needed to help address rising housing costs, especially for low-income individuals and families, because of booming population growth, employment opportunities, and economic development in Cary over the last 20 years. The funding will be used to construct a street to the development. A well-designed and integrated street network is the backbone for a viable, complete neighborhood.

Project Name: Wake Tech Electric Vehicle Training

Amount Secured: $939,041

Description: Wake Technical Community College will use this funding for Grid to Plug to Wheels: Technician Training for Safe and Efficient Electric Vehicle Power Utilization and Maintenance. This job training program will prepare a next generation workforce of 2-year technicians to build and maintain power supply infrastructure and service electric vehicles. The growing demand for skilled labor in this sector will lead to good careers, greenhouse gas reductions, and consumer savings at the pump.

Project Name: Saint Augustine’s University Tuttle Public Health Center

Amount Secured: $490,000

Description: St. Augustine’s University, a Historically Black University (HBCU), will use this funding to open its Tuttle Public Health Center (TPHC), which will support health and wellness education, student research regarding the long-term effects of COVID-19, and related programs that will benefit St. Augustine’s students and the surrounding community. Funding will be used to support faculty, establish smart classrooms for students, and purchase research and lab equipment.

Project Name: GoTriangle Wake County Transit Access and Safety Improvements

Amount Secured: $900,000

Description: This project will address critical transit access and operation safety concerns at GoTriangle bus stops across Wake County. The project will make improvements at several locations where the design speed, traffic volumes, constrained right-of-way, and a number of transit passengers require safety and ADA accessibility improvements. These improvements include bus bays, sidewalk connections, ADA curb ramps, crosswalks, and pedestrian signals. Proposed locations are distributed throughout the county, benefiting customers on several regional GoTriangle routes.

Project Name: Raleigh-Durham International Airport North Cargo Taxilane Reconstruction

Amount Secured: $5,000,000

Description: This project will reconstruct the Taxilane that provides access to the North Cargo aircraft parking apron at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. This Taxilane access is critical to the operation of both FedEx and UPS, which provide freight and logistics services to central North Carolina.

Project Name: Town of Holly Springs Water Reclamation

Amount Secured: $3,000,000

Description:  The Utley Creek Water Reclamation Facility is nearing capacity due to population and economic growth. This project will employ innovative and sustainable techniques to increase capacity and divert treated wastewater for other reuses in the community.

Project Name: Triangle Regional Water Partnership

Amount Secured: $3,326,400

Description:  This project will help address the inadequate water supply intended to serve the recently announced VinFast manufacturing facility, the largest economic development project in North Carolina to date, and to provide a safe water supply for the Town of Pittsboro. The funding will be used to construct one of two horizontal directional drills under the Cape Fear River from the City of Sanford’s Water Treatment Plant, which will provide a safe and resilient source of potable water for local government partners that include Chatham County, Pittsboro, Holly Springs, and Fuquay-Varina. Congresswoman Ross secured this funding with Congressman David Price (NC-04).

Project Name: Garner Senior Center Facility Improvements

Amount Secured: $505,200

Description: The project will enhance safety, increase accessibility, and improve the functionality of the Garner Senior Center (GSC), which hosts over 42,000 annual visits by Garner-area seniors. The facility also houses Wake County’s largest congregate Meals on Wheels site serving 1,700 monthly meals on-site and is a distribution site for 1,100 monthly delivered meals. Improvements to the facility include the replacement of aging HVAC systems to improve air handling, renovations to restrooms to improve safety and accessibility, the addition of an accessible route to outdoor programming areas of the facility, installation of technology to ensure safe user access, enhancements to the kitchen and dining facility to improve food distribution, and other general facility upgrades.

Project Name: Pleasant Grove Community Center in Wendell

Amount Secured: $2,000,000

Description:  The Pleasant Grove Community Center Project is a collaborative partnership with the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, Town of Wendell, and Wake County to reimagine a future use of the historic African American Carver School. This site is located within a low-income area near a public housing development and will serve as a focal point of inclusion and opportunity. The community center rehabilitation will provide a space to offer families after-school, track out, and summer camp programs; job development services; and a business incubator to host the entrepreneurial program, LaunchWENDELL. This funding will be used for community engagement, project design, construction documents, and the rehabilitation of the old Carver Elementary School.

Project Name: Tingen Road Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge Design in Apex

Amount Secured: $550,000

Description: This funding will be used for the study and design of a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the railroad crossing of Tingen Road in Apex, North Carolina. This railroad crossing is expected to close in 2025. The construction of the bicycle and pedestrian bridge will provide a route for the community to safely cross the railroad tracks on Tingen Road.

Project Name: North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Education Center at Prairie Ridge

Amount Secured: $750,000

Description: The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences will use this funding to construct an Education Center at Prairie Ridge, which will expand services to significantly increase the number of visitors the facility can accommodate. Designed for easy accessibility, including for those with limited pedestrian mobility, families with young children, and school groups, the building will feature three new assets: an indoor classroom, furnished with scientific instruments and teaching tools; universally accessible restroom facilities; and a nature porch. This funding will contribute to economic development by creating an important public amenity along the Blue Ridge Corridor, turning an existing community resource into a year-round ecotourism destination, and fostering the creation of new jobs. 

Project Name: Town of Morrisville Solar Panel Installations on Town Facilities

Amount Secured: $250,000

Description: The Town of Morrisville wants to lead the community’s adoption of sustainable practices and technology. The Town will use $250,000 in funding to purchase and install solar arrays on three of the Town’s largest energy-consuming facilities to reduce its carbon footprint. The facilities include the Morrisville Aquatics and Fitness Center, Public Safety and Municipal Services Building, and Harris Mill Road Fire Station.

Project Name: Town of Fuquay-Varina Continuous Operation Body Camera System

Amount Secured: $180,000

Description:  The Town of Fuquay-Varina will use this funding to supply police officers with continuous operation body camera systems. This funding will enable Fuquay-Varina to purchase improved body-worn camera equipment for Police Officers to enhance safety, transparency, and community trust. Body cameras enhance community safety and trust and are essential for 21st-century policing. 

The Fiscal Year 2023 omnibus funding package also includes:

• $21 billion increase for veterans’ health care to help with the implementation of the PACT Act
• Reform of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which will help thwart attempts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power
• Robust funding to provide security, economic, and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in its fight for freedom and democracy
• Emergency disaster assistance to help victims of hurricanes and wildfires throughout the country
• $72 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help address the affordable housing crisis, a $6 billion increase above last year’s levels 

The package also includes Congresswoman Ross’ legislation, the Unleashing American Innovators Act, critical legislation that will address disparities in the U.S. patent system and expand access to patents for underrepresented communities. The bill will also establish a U.S. Patent Office in the Southeast.