I like the idea of a high-speed Charlotte-Raleigh connection, but I really feel like the negatives are too toxic here… After all, even Owen acknowledged it as such:
…and I guess I’m skeptical that this deal is worth it in the first place.
The most reasonable and least environmentally destructive approach for a Greensboro-bypassing superhighway seems to be to convert US-64 and NC-49 to interstate standards just like US-421 (AKA the future I-685). That path is already relatively straight outside of Pittsboro (easily avoidable) and Asheboro (rail lines can stop near the Zoo instead), and you wouldn’t have to wrestle as much with how much you’re polluting a National Forest or an epicenter of the “forever chemicals” crisis. I’m struggling to imagine that an all-new right-of-way would pass a NEPA review over that.
…and besides, a new highway alignment also poisons the whole value proposition of high speed rail (lots of people movement, faster, with less cost and pollution per person). Plus, the NCTA could always pull a bait-and-switch. At that point, I’d be more comfortable with widening I-40 and plopping high-speed rail on the median 
But anyways, even the infrastructure that’s proposed now could take a long time to materialize. I’m just looking forward to these projects happening -if not for my benefit, then for my kids’ or grandkids’. It’s not bad to let our legacies outlive us, after all. (Maybe land use laws will change by then, too, so that high speed rail augmentations are easier to build?)