North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is throwing his weight behind the Durham-Orange Light Rail project.

Funding the proposed light rail project has been a hot topic recently amid changes at the state and federal level.

Now, Governor Roy Cooper is including the nearly 18-mile rail line in his pitch to the federal government for funding shovel-ready infrastructure projects in the Tar Heel state.

The light rail project was included as one of eight projects Cooper’s administration included at the request of the National Governors Association, according to his office.

“Moving ahead with shovel ready projects like these will create good paying jobs and provide a shot in the arm to our state’s economy,” Cooper said in a release. “Improving highways and mass transit will make North Carolina an even better place to live and do business.”

The other seven projects submitted by Cooper are all aimed at widening or completing traditional highway projects.

GoTriangle general manager Jeff Mann issued a statement on Thursday thanking Cooper for his support.

“The Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit Project is an important part of the two counties’ comprehensive transit plans,” Mann said. “It will provide better mobility and stronger connections to universities, hospitals and employment centers, while creating new jobs and investments in the state’s economy.”

The proposed light rail line is scheduled to run from UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill to North Carolina Central University.

The projected cost of the line is now approaching $2.5 billion. The initial cost breakdown included 50 percent of the funding coming from the federal government, 25 percent from the state and the remaining 25 percent from local governments through a sales tax approved by voters in Durham and Orange Counties.

But that has changed as the state put a cap on funding light rail projects at 10 percent of the total cost. Meanwhile, the federal government has altered the way it would finance these projects by spreading the funding out over additional years.

That has left GoTriangle with a funding gap that the transit organization has been working to fill. As of last update, GoTriangle has said additional local funding would be a safety net for the project but project opponents have been skeptical of that possibility.

GoTriangle officials have said they’re anticipating a decision from federal officials that would amount to clearing a “significant milestone” by the end of February.

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