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Showdown looms on mid-Currituck bridge this week
Artist’s rendering. (N.C. Turnpike Authority)
The Joint Transportation Oversight Committee has been closely examining the proposed mid-Currituck Bridge, with vocal opposition coming from Sen. Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick), who is a co-chair of the committee.
The bridge would be built using a public-private partnership, but could have the state picking up the tab for 30 years to cover revenue shortfalls.
North Carolina would have to pay the private group $10 million if the bridge project is cancelled under certain conditions.
The committee is slated to meet Friday morning in Raleigh, and is accepting comment from the public via e-mail to Kolt.Ulm@ncleg.net through Thursday at 12 p.m.
See what people are saying:
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Steve says:
A bridge to reduce the driving time two days a week for 16 weeks. Ridiculous
The yuppies do not need this bridge.
Christina says:
This has nothing to do with yuppies and everything to do with locals. Our lives are affected greatly because of this traffic. I’m on the mainland and we can’t even leave our road Saturday or Sunday, until dinnertime or later. This forces us to have to time everything we do around the traffic, such as errands, shopping, and social get togethers. My parents live on the beach and have to do the same, or go roundabout back roads to get to necessary places.
It also has an economic effect for the area. My job is open 7 days a week and Saturday and Sunday during the day is very little foot traffic because everybody is stuck in their cars. My coworkers and I have reduced hours on the weekend because of this. I also request less hours on the weekend because it doubles, sometimes triples my commute time.
This bridge would be just like the new Manns Harbor bridge. So many opposed it, saying it was unnecessary because you should just drive through Manteo. But now nobody thinks twice about it. It unclogged Manteo to actually be an enjoyable destination and makes trips west a breeze. The northern beaches deserve the same positives.
Steve says:
The state is supposed to build bridges… roads… schools… all the good stuff that promotes the surrounding community at large. This bridge will promote growth and jobs for Currituck. It will have to be through good stewardship that all future development of the Currituck Outer Banks be an accessible destination for more than just tourists. It must be a destination for artists, musicians, local eateries, and other year round activities. Why stifle growth for the few people who want to keep it a giant rental property.
Jason says:
Build the overpass at the intersection near home depot and add the turning lane to NC12. We do not need the bridge.
Mike S. says:
Christina is right. Currituck County rubber-stamped approval for thousands of huge vacation homes, never giving a second thought to how they could get 200,000 plus visitors in and out of those houses every weekend.
They have had 10 years to reap hundreds of millions in taxes and fees off those homes, but have still done nothing to solve the problems they caused.
Currituck County, and those homeowners, should have to foot the bill for this travesty. Their greed caused the problem, now, it should be time for them to invest in their future greed.
OBX Tom says:
Greed is all of the people who bought property up there and are pushing for this bridge so they can sell and make a mint !! Nobody cares about the wildlife and vegetation that they intrude opon ? How many dead wild horses will be on the side of the road after it opens ? How many of the rich yuppies will contribute to paying their taxes on the giant mcmansions they built ? Someone should take a picture of the Corolla beach now and than one after the bridge is built. The only reason its nice is because we respect it and its not easy to access (far drive). The amount of McDonalds rappers and beer cans will pile up endlessly ? My two cents…
comfortablybum says:
Those yuppies money built this beach. They fund our schools and services. They are willing to endure hours of traffic jams to come back here every year, but eventually they won’t put up with the misery of being on the bridge for two hours. As for Corolla getting trashed and commercialized, have you been up there? Your anger is a decade late.
Tom Horwath says:
This is another bridge to no-where! A single lane each way is a problem waiting to happen. You will have a parking lot on each end of the bridge for 16 weeks and no traffic off season. I own a second home on the OBX for 30 years and have been hearing about “The Bridge”. we need a highway built from Elizabeth City to 95 not a slow boat to64 and Virgina’s traffic problems!
Tom H.
Darkseas says:
I’ve noticed that no one has mentioned hurricane evacuation. The assumption is that there will be plenty of warning and time for people to get off OBX, but what if there isn’t? What if it’s just a day or two? What if the gas stations on OBX run out of gas, or the lines to get gas block local roads? The bridge will be a huge help getting people off OBX.
As for Virginia, we’re doing something about the I-64 problem with the build out of Route 460 to Petersburg to four lanes toll. When complete (4 years if I recall correctly), it will be a good alternate to I-64 in the best of times and having it will be a huge advantage in an emergency, particularly if Hampton Roads is evacuating too.
Does North Carolina really want the bad publicity that went with the lack of preparedness for Katrina? Or Texas that same year with all the traffic problems getting people out of the Gulf area during the follow-on storm?
As Comfortablybum said, if the vacationers decide that it’s too much trouble to get here and back and there’s a possibility of being trapped during a really big storm, they’ll stop coming. How many jobs are there that don’t depend on tourism? It wouldn’t be pretty!
Sean A. says:
This is a better discussion for sometime in March when the evils of the tourist have worn off and their money is sorely needed again. The bridge is a good idea and there are numerous reasons. Everyone is correct in thinking property values will go up. Detractors think about an owner’s greed, I think about tax revenue for the county. Higher beach property values mean more tax revenue for Currituck County. Tourists pay this bill through rentals. Maybe we should tell them to stay home because we don’t need their money. Folks will be put to work to build and maintain the bridge which is a good thing. I suggest requiring those against the bridge be required to explain to the local labor force that the environmental reason or aesthetics are more important than being able to provide a Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas to families. It will also come in handy when the beach has to be evacuated for a hurricane. We all know how horrible those traffic days are for everyone. Last thought, imagine you or someone you love has a heart attack in Point Harbor at 1:30pm on a Saturday. Do you really want the Ambulance to take an extra 15 minutes to get to there? I don’t.
Chet says:
Unless we’re blowing Duck off the map this bridge is an enormous waste of time and money. It’s not going to do what some think. There’s not that many people coming to stay in Corolla. They’re going to duck. So we’ll just turn the traffic problem in another direction. And why are so many people worried about developing the northern beaches? The fact that they are still somewhat peaceful and wild is the draw. Who cares if you can’t get a big mac? Sometimes big, bright, and shiney isn’t better. Let’s just eat 10Mil now instead of eating close to 1Bil later.
HL says:
This will do nothing but make another traffic jam 15 miles north. It will also kill the service and trades industries for the locals, due to the new influx of larger VA Carpetbaggers that can out bid them. Plus it won’t be built by an American company….complete waste of money.
Roanoker says:
How’d they Do it Up North. JusSay’n :0
OBXER says:
Its incredible how so many people can be so passionate about every issue, ive seen things such as we are going to see wild horses dead at the side of the road…what?! that doest even make sense, wild horses rarely die due to traffic in Corolla, infact it is the lack of new genetic breeding partners that threaten them the most, the toll will be hefty from what I hear and it will go a long way in preserving the OBX’s number 1 industry. I see a person has said people mostly go to Duck not Corolla…this is just not true. I work in the industry up in Corolla that serves both Duck and Corolla and there are a huge amount of people in both with the (slight) majority in Corollas favor.The environment will be impacted but probably not the full scale armageddon that some people are saying. In fact structure in the water is a good thing for fish and other sea creatures (thats why they sink buses in Australia). Like with almost anything, a situation can have the potential to be devastating and wonderful, but it all depends on the people to do their part to make it work. Why would they wont it to work? To reduce traffic on SS and Kitty Hawk and its a huge investment in the tourist industry that allows almost everyone the chance to live down here.
The only thing I could imagine criticizing is if NC can afford this in the budget…which I have no knowledge about
....... says:
I see another bridge to nowhere comment, just like comments on the Oregon inlet bridge. If that’s true then why do people want to go nowhere?
OBX Res says:
Friends attended this meeting. Interesting fact, according to Mr. Joyner, head of NCTA, if we stop this process now, the cost is $3.5 million, not the $10 million that was highly reported. Total cost of project still has not been determined but state of NC is ultimately on the hook for close to $2 Billion (including GAP funding and Operations and Maintenance costs in the event that the developer defaults–which is likely given that the lack of traffic will limit revenue from tolls and the Operations and Maintenance is a projected $100 million shortfall per Mr. Joyner). DOT claims to have spent $25 million to date on the project. So, the big question is, where have all the previously approved GAP funds of $28 million/$40 million per year gone? Probably to the salaries of the NC Turnpike Authority bigwigs and directors, engineering firms like Parsons Brinkerhoff and Assoc., and various consulting companies. You don’t suppose any of these might be a little biased towards building a bridge do you? So much for an “objective” analysis of a need…
Angus McDonald says:
I live in Harbinger, NC. Harbinger is the last township before the you go over the Wright Brother’s Memorial Bridge, if you are driving South on Route 158.
I have seen the miles long traffic jams every year and I’ve had lots of time to look and think of the root cause of the traffic issue.
Putting in a Mid-Currituck bridge will not solve the problem with the traffic. It will however provide another entrance into corolla and ease the time and expense of driving the big loop and provide emergency usage during a crisis, i.e. Hurricanes.
The root cause of the traffic problem is the traffic stops and slows are created by the traffic lights on the Kitty Hawk side of the bridge. There are (3) traffic lights that are necessary due to the shopping plaza. People need to enter, exit and cross-over between plaza’s
With all of the traffic coming south from the bridge, the traffic begins to build around 8:30AM, Saturday & Sunday of the summer weeks. By around 10:30AM the traffic is up to the Exxon Station, near the Harley dealer and by noon as far as Grandy, a (10) mile total
A new bridge mid currituck bridge would ease the traffic flow but I think all parties concerned will be very dissapointed, after spending $650 million on a new bridge, only to find the same traffic problem.
A correct address of the situation would involve an alternate route on the Kitty Hawk side of the bridge, just off the bridge and before the first traffic light, down to Duck from 158. And maybe slowing the traffic on the bridge to perhaps 45MPH. That’s slow but just is just a suggestion. But an alternate route to Duck may resolve the traffic issue. There seems to be vacant land in the area, I’m not sure how much.
I think its worthwhile to look at this solution and perhaps prevent a great expenditure and an unexpected outcome.
Another solution, albeit radical is to create an elevated bypass that would allow drivers the option of bypassing the shopping plaza. That would definitely resolve the traffic issue and wold be less expensive, and if done correctly would not be unsightly and obtrusive.