Despite Union blockades of much of the rest of the Confederate eastern seaboard, the Port of Wilmington remained largely available until near the end of the war due to the natural barrier islands and shoals around the mouth of 10 GATEWAY TO THE WORLD the Cape Fear River.5 When Wilmington was finally successfully taken, it marked a major turning point in the war; much of the already belea- guered C. [...] The importance of the state’s deepwater ports was recognized by the state legislature in 1945 with the creation of the North Carolina Ports Authority.9 The Ports Authority’s main job was to keep North Carolina’s two main ports com- petitive with its rival ports in South Carolina and Virginia through the sale of revenue bonds to help fund expansion as necessary. [...] In both the Port of Wilmington and the Port of Morehead City, two his- torical constants have remained: continued growth and the importance of the ports to the Tar Heel State. [...] A 2019 report by the Program Evaluation Division found that improved performance at the Port of Wilmington is linked to early implementation of capital expansion projects.48 Traditionally, the North Carolina legislature has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to both the Port of Wilmington and the Port of Thousands JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION 37 Morehead City as a means of ensuring continued compe. [...] "The legislature The legislature may want to commission a dedicated P3 unit, akin to an Oversight should pass Committee, to evaluate the needs of both legislation to the Port of Wilmington and the Port of Morehead City and proposed P3s and to es- encourage and tablish a standardized procedure.
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- Published in
- United States of America
