Oregon Inlet bridge: Another study, another delay
NCDOT photo
A new environmental assessment has been ordered to examine how future phases of the project along N.C. 12 could affect Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, Kill Devil Hills Mayor Ray Sturza said Wednesday.
He said the delay could open the door for another look at a far more expensive and seemingly improbable 17-mile span paralleling the refuge, an option influential environmental groups prefer.
Sturza, who is also the Dare County planning director, said Wednesday he heard about the delay from state Transportation Secretary Gene Conti, who was at the dedication of a new paint shop at the ferry facility.
It was also announced in a press release from the county. Construction now will not begin until at least the spring of 2011, the county said.
Plans for a span to replace the Bonner Bridge have been in the works for years. It looked like a record of decision, a last hurdle to clear the way for the project, was imminent until the latest development. The record of decision will now have to wait for the new assessment to be done.
The state Department of Transportation had decided to build a new bridge parallel to the existing one and about the same 2.4-mile length. Later, smaller bridges and other work to deal with hotspots vulnerable to ocean overwash along N.C. 12 could be done as needed. The study, Sturza said, is related to those secondary projects.
Environmental group warns of serious risks to wildlife
The Southern Environmental Law Center opposes what is called the “phased approach” because it leaves to chance how the later work along N.C. 12 would be done.
“By leaving the precise planning for maintaining the single road through the refuge until later, the North Carolina Department of Transportation seeks to give itself the option to choose from among various environmentally damaging methods, including nourishing the beach, building dunes, and phasing in and continually repairing a series of additional bridges and road segments through the refuge,” the environmental group says on its Web site.
“Ongoing construction work would undermine the ecological integrity of the refuge and would pose a constant threat to migratory waterfowl and other wildlife.”
The Southern Environmental Law Center favors the 17-mile bridge option.
Replacing the Bonner Bridge has become the center of an aggressive public relations and lobbying campaign by both sides. Two Web sites, Build The Long Bridge and replacethebridgenow.com, argue their cases.
Sturza urges the public to speak out
Sturza, speaking at a town Board of Commissioners meeting, urged public participation during hearings on the latest study. He suggested that more delays represented bureaucratic obstruction that could encourage reconsideration of the 17-mile span, which would bypass and limit access to Pea Island. That is considered by advocates of the current plan to be an option so costly it would probably never be built. As it is, the shorter bridge will cost between $1.1 billion and $1.4 billion, according the department of transportation Web site.
Meanwhile, Sturza said, more money will be poured into maintaining the obsolete and crumbling Bonner Bridge.
Sturza said that people who live in the northern beach towns should care about what happens with the project because the bridge is the only access from the north to Pea Island, a popular day trip for tourists, and “voices need to be heard.”
“It’s a motor in our tourism industry,” he said.
In the county’s press release, Dare County Commissioner Allen Burrus, who represents Hatteras Island, denounced the delay.
“Federal and state agencies have done environmental studies over and over again since 1993 when the replacement bridge was first due to be constructed,’’ said Burrus, a businessman from Hatteras Island who serves as vice chairman of the county Board of Commissioners.
“The Department of Transportation’s recommendation to replace the Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet and create a series of elevated roadway segments over hotspots along Pea Island in phases is the least environmentally damaging and the most economical plan. Let’s get moving on this before people get hurt.’’
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Join the discussion:
Bette says:
I don’t mean to throw a wrench in the works, but could someone tell me if there was ever a plan to not build a bridge at all and instead use a ferry system like on Ocracoke? Don’t know how it would compare in cost to what’s planned, but it might be faster. Don’t know, would like some information. Thanks.
Billy Ray says:
Hey Dare County—Time to pull your head out of the sand!
Fred says:
We are totally at the mercy of SELC and their allies, the lawyers who legislate and also serve the judicial system. No surprise- they began laying the groundwork in 1916 with the Organic Act, and incrementally have advanced to our present state of victimization by environmental activism.
Without some means of countering each little green whim, we shall find ourselves continuing thus. Meanwhile, we must use those tools available to us and watch our lifestyle and livelihood struggle.
Tim says:
Our rights as citizens and land owners are being taken away at an alarming rate by people who do not care about our environment or our livelihoods. Just control. We have to get involved. Come on Dare County!
OBXer says:
There is no right or wrong answer to this problem. Both sides have valid arguments. In the end, it won’t matter much because sea levels are slowly rising and there is nothing anyone can do in the short term to stop it. We continue to pump hundreds of millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which will continue to alter the planet’s weather patterns. Glaciers will melt, sea levels will rise, and more of our beautiful beaches will wash away. The writing is on the wall. It may take another 30 or 40 years before you’re all ankle deep in salt water. But, face it. It’s coming. Get off the Island while you still can.
Carol says:
A high speed ferry system is an alternative that should be considered. What good will a new short bridge be if the road through Pea Island is not passable? The stretch of highway through Pea Island currently requires a great deal of maintenance to keep it out of the surf zone. In the long run it as a battle that nature will win and then all of the money spent on the short bridge and the highway through Pea Island will have been wasted.
cletus says:
Maybe both the long and the short bridges are too expensive.
An expanded fast ferry system may be the best use of taxpayers’ money.
Tim says:
We need a bridge just as before and the ability to do proper maintenance to the road leading to the villages south. We are being environmentally paralyzed. Unfortunately it’s not about the environment. It is about control of the beaches.
yates clifton says:
Build the new bridge as currently proposed by NCDOT. I have worked with Tidewater Construction out of Virginia three times on the old bridge. It was in bad shape 25 years ago. We replaced the Pea Island end of the bridge several times at great cost to the taxpayers of NC. It is only a short amount of time before it falls into the inlet. If I were heading to Hatteras, a bridge would be the only option for me. Getting off and on the island will be hard to do with a ferry, food, tourist, evacuation. I think the NCDOT people know what is the best option. That is what their job is.
Roger Seach says:
It is really dangerous when your bridge is held up by endless red tape
Ian says:
Everyone on the obx and throughout this country should wake up. These are not individual local problems but rather a ever growing problem of leftist throughout our country. They have a strong belief that they, being government and/or academia, know better than us the people. Just start looking at the White House and on down the line. These people will not be happy until they see this bridge fall into the water. Then they will be upset over the loss of wildlife and not human life. Wake up!!
Jamie says:
Installing a ferry service to replace the Bonner Bridge would be a detriment to Hyde and Dare counties’ tourism, lifestyle, and economy. The ferry would also be able to transport 25% of the ferry traffic that the bridge allows. It is out of the question and not a viable alternative.