Build The Bridge

THE COASTLAND TIMES
VOL. LXXII - NO. 62
MANTEO, N. C.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2006

THE STORM’S REMINDER

Nor’easters often cause as much disruption and beach erosion here on the Outer Banks as most hurricanes, all but killers such as Isabel, and the Thanksgiving eve storm of last Tuesday and Wednesday was no exception.

High water made NC 12 on Hatteras Island impassable until mid afternoon on Thursday. Ferry service and power were out until Thanksgiving Day.

In Southern Shores, where the highway is known as Ocean Boulevard and is the only road to Corolla and the Currituck Outer Banks, the town reported that NC 12 was closed by police “for many hours” Wednesday morning. Residents of Corolla say they had flooding similar to that caused by Hurricane Ernesto, which passed well to the west of us the past summer.

Officers in Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk warned motorists to stay off NC 12, the beach road, until it could be cleared. And there was beach erosion and debris left by the storm on up to Duck
and beyond.

It should go without saying that a new bridge across Oregon Inlet, though needed, would not have prevented all this. Nor would construction of a mid Currituck Sound bridge. It too is needed for safety and to ease mounting traffic congestion, but as part of a two steps. North Carolina Department of Transportation engineers have advised for years that both widening of NC 12 from Southern Shores to Corolla and a mid Currituck bridge are required to ease, if not fully solve, traffic congestion and related dangers on the northern Outer Banks.

Yet Southern Shores and Duck have long been leaders in strenuous lobbying against both steps with their “Build the Bridge — Save Our Road” campaign.

Once again, we must say to our friends that while we fully appreciate your concerns, you are only half right. The recent nor’easter was further evidence of that.

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To demonstrate our united efforts to oppose any widening of NC12 please respond to this editorial by sending written correspondence addressed to: Editor, The Coastland Times, 503 Budleigh Street, Manteo, NC 27954. Check out the statements in the editorial for validity....NC 12 was not closed at all during the recent nor'easter. The portion of Ocean Boulevard that was closed due to power line problems is the portion at the split in the road where Ocean Boulevard continues and NC 12 becomes Duck Road. The closed portion had no effect on NC 12, which remained opened and unaffected. The editor of The Coastland Times needs to verify information before he prints it. He obviously does not know that Ocean Boulevard is only NC 12 up to the split where Duck Road begins. PLEASE SEND LETTERS AND ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO THE SAME. We need to let our critics know that WE will not sit back and allow misstatements and misrepresentations to be made.

Thank you.

Currituck bridge’s funding possible in bill
By JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, The Virginian-Pilot
© June 10, 2005

Building a mid-county bridge in Currituck is gaining momentum again as a local group and state and federal officials look at turning to private backing and construction to get it done.

The North Carolina Turnpike Authority would get power to plan and build the bridge using a private contractor if a bill in the state General Assembly becomes law. The bill has already passed the House and is in the Senate.

Meanwhile, the local group, Build The Bridge-Preserve Our Roads, has conducted its own study of the costs to widen U.S. 158 and N.C. 12. The state highway department recommended widening roads last summer as an alternative to building the bridge. The state is still in the midst of a multi-year study on how to move traffic through Currituck and Dare counties to the northern Outer Banks.

The 10-mile long bridge has been considered since the 1970s and listed a state highway project since 1989, but money and environmental permitting have bogged it down. Officials hope privatizing the project would speed up its construction.

The Turnpike Authority was authorized by the General Assembly in 2002 to build and operate toll roads in the state. The new bill would expand the number of projects it can take on and includes language that pinpoints one of the projects as the mid-county bridge.

“One of the Turnpike projects shall be a bridge of more than two miles in length going from the mainland to a peninsula bordering the State of Virginia” is written in the bill.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. James Crawford Jr. , D-Granville , was written with help from Rep. Bill Culpepper, D-Chowan, and Rep. Bill Owens, D-Pasquotank, Owens said Thursday.

If the bill passes, the bridge could be designed and built by a private contractor. The contractor would still have to get federal and state environmental permits, which have been obstacles in the past, Owens said. Hurricane evacuation is included as a primary purpose for the bridge.

Private funding and construction would make the project go faster, he said. If the bill passes, money would have to be borrowed to build the bridge, and the tolls would pay it back, a process that’s been used in other states, he said.

“We still have a lot of environmental hoops to jump, but we’ll have a lot better chance of building it than we do now,” Owens said. “This is one step.”

The state’s long-range road building plan has the mid-county bridge costing just under $118 million. A private contractor could build it for much less, said Gwenn Cruickshanks, president of Build The Bridge-Preserve Our Roads.

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen s. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr, North Carolina Republicans, have agreed to support an effort to get $2 million set aside in the federal highway bill to study the feasibility of building a toll bridge in Currituck, Cruickshanks said.

It’s undetermined how the Turnpike Authority would use that money, said Amy Fulk, spokeswoman for state Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, who is backing the bill in the state Senate.

Last summer, the state Department of Transportation said early studies showed that widening U.S. 158 and N.C. 12 would better relieve traffic than building a new bridge. Since then, a study sponsored by the local group, Build the Bridge, challenged the state’s position.

A state study from 1998 put the cost of buying right-of-way along those highways at about $83 million, according to the local study. But the local study said obtaining right-of-way along those highways would cost more than $400 million.

“They didn’t really do a complete study of what happens if they widen those roads,” said John Wander, a retired consultant who conducted the local study.

State officials do not have an updated cost of right-of-way, said Bill Jones, spokesman for the state highway department. The multi-year study will determine those costs, he said.

Reach Jeffrey Hampton at (252) 338-0159 or jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com.

Coastland Times, April 17, 2005

Letter to the Editor

As I read your April 17 editorial - “The Bridge Game” - it was painfully obvious that you did not carefully research and understand the facts before you expressed your strongly worded opinions about Build the Bridge Preserve, Our Roads, Inc. (BBPR) and the positions it has taken in support of the Mid Currituck Sound Bridge and in opposition to widening Route 158 in Lower Currituck and NC 12 in Southern Shores and Duck. This is disappointing and disturbing on many levels but not entirely unexpected given your past history of editorial inaccuracies.

You clearly do not understand the purpose of and strong local support for the federal grant being sought not just by BBPR, but also by the Towns of Duck and Southern Shores, the Currituck County Chamber of Commerce, the Duck Civic Association and the Duck Community and Business Alliance. The purpose of the grant is to allow East Carolina University to study, inter alia, the cost and feasibility of building and operating the Mid Currituck Sound Bridge through a public/private partnership. This request has the support of Senator Dole, Senator Basnight, Representative Culpepper, the Dare County Commissioners and, most recently, the Currituck County Commissioners. The concept of building and operating the Bridge by a public/private partnership has never been studied, let alone “studied to near death” as stated in your editorial.

It is also obvious that you do not understand or appreciate the broad based support for BBPR . The organization has over 1100 members who are resident and non-resident property owners in Currituck and Dare Counties and the Towns of Duck and Southern Shores. Broad support for the expeditious building of the Bridge and opposition to widening Route 158 in lower Currituck and NC 12 through Duck and Southern Shores is evidenced by the over 21,000 signatories to the BBPR petition and by the 27 resolutions of support from various municipal, business and other organizations. It is far broader than simply “residents and business owners, primarily along NC12”.

Your statement that NCDOT has long maintained that “both a bridge and road widening will be required to alleviate congestion” is also incorrect. The most recent “preliminary” traffic analysis of NCDOT , suggests that congestion will remain even with road widening and that “substantial costs and community impacts would be associated with such improvements”. In a letter to the Towns of Duck and Southern Shores NCDOT has also acknowledged that having some degree of road congestion is an acceptable alternative to widening roads.

The issues related to the bridge and the roads are complex and often emotionally charged. Indeed, your editorial chose to focus, in part, on the “flag waving former mayor of Southern Shores.” Many of us are proud to “wave the Flag”---especially when it is waved in support of what the people---not the special interests—want. As to your claim that this is a group of Duck and Southern Shores citizens with special interests, may I point out we have many supporters from all parts of Currituck County and that our President is a resident of Currituck County. And, by the way, we are all very proud of what the “flag waving” former mayor, Paul Sutherland, has accomplished for all of us!

Without engaging in emotional rhetoric, we call your attention to the facts set forth in the recently completed financial study of road widening, a copy of which we believe you have. As indicated therein, a minimum payout by NCDOT for right of way acquisition would be $439 Million---and that was before the recent reassessments . In addition, over 3700 properties would be affected—83 families would lose their homes, 61 businesses in Duck would be lost along with 600 jobs. Over 2000 homes and businesses would lose a portion of their value and/or revenue. Local and state government would lose $6 million a year in revenues. In addition, one of the “tourist meccas” would be irrevocably damaged. For the affected individuals, businesses and governments this is real and no “Bridge Game”.

We certainly understand and respect different points of view, especially on emotionally charged issues. However, responsible journalism requires that you do your homework and get the facts right before editorializing your opinions.

If this were the Outer Banks Sentinel , the Opinion Page would read :
HISSES to The Coastland Times for irresponsible journalism. Get the facts right
before you write an editorial .

Build the bridge – Preserve our Roads, Inc.

Board of Directors