The Mid-Currituck Bridge in a Nutshell
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http://www.ncdot.gov/projects/midcurrituckbridge/ Please download copy to your computer and review. It can be found about 1/2 way down the project web page. It is very important that we comment on this document. If history repeats itself for the NCTA, the Record of Decision won’t come for about a year. If the ROD includes the bridge, there WILL BE a lawsuit which can add an additional year after the ROD. There is also the problem of how the proposed project will be paid for. This is the middle phase of the proposed project. There is still a LONG WAY TO GO BEFORE CONSTRUCTION BEGINS! By Jeff Hampton The Virginian-Pilot © January 6, 2012 Maple, NC A Currituck County complex covering nearly 700 acres has the potential to attract enough commercial and residential growth to Maple and Barco to rival Moyock, officials say. The complex already has an airport, a business park, a large cooperative extensive center and a new YMCA/senior center. Now the county is planning to spend $9.3 million more over the next five years to build tennis courts, a skateboard park and tournament-quality softball fields. Currituck officials are hoping the new projects will cause restaurants, stores and possibly motels to spring up on nearby farm fields. Two miles away, at the busy intersection of N.C. 168 and U.S. 158, a 57-acre tract zoned for mixed use of businesses and homes is for sale. Just a few miles north, along N.C. 168, is Nicholson’s Point – a part-residential, part-commercial subdivision that was stalled by the sour economy but could be restarted at any point. Two years ago, the county mapped Barco and Maple into a plan that allows for clustered development with smaller lots and setbacks. A sewage treatment plant at the Maple complex could be expanded to service the new growth, said Currituck County planning director Ben Woody. Combine all of that with a new bridge proposed to connect the mainland to Corolla and conditions are ripe for planned growth that could convert the farming communities into what Woody called a more pedestrian-friendly version of Moyock. “We have a chance to create a unique place,” he said. With the advantage of sitting near the Chesapeake line, Moyock has grown to a community of about 7,000 – Currituck’s largest, and more than twice the size of Maple and Barco combined. Barco already is seeing a small sample of development with a convenience store, a bank, a shoe store, a nursing home and crab-processing plant along N.C. 168. The new bridge would shorten the drive from there to the Outer Banks to about 15 minutes, adding a selling point to the new business park that so far is still vacant, said Currituck economic developer Peter Bishop. The facilities, the bridge, new neighborhoods and businesses could fuel a “mini-reversal” of the recession for the area, Bishop said. The county business park offers 11 large lots designed to attract light manufacturing. College of the Albemarle and the county plan to build an aircraft maintenance training facility there, and a new YMCA and senior center just opened two weeks ago. A cooperative extension center opened four years ago. Plans are in the works to build new animal shelter there. The county’s new reverse-osmosis water treatment plant and the sheriff’s office and jail also sit just on the other side of the 5,500-foot airport runway. Locals have not complained much about the complex or proposed subdivisions, but there is concern. “I think it’s a good thing, as long as it is being built observing the impacts on people who already live there,” said Ginger Morris, owner of Morris Farm Market in Barco. John Sawyer, a resident of nearby Ponderosa Mobile Home Park, is less enthused. “I want it to stay country,” Sawyer said. “We’ve got a 7-Eleven on the corner.” Jeff Hampton (252) 338-0159 jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com Currituck in race against nature to clear OBX ditches By Cindy Beamon The Daily Advance Wednesday, January 4, 2012 CURRITUCK — Clearing ditches on the Outer Banks has turned out to be a race against nature for Currituck officials. The county has sought to solve flooding problems on sand roads behind the dunes by clearing out drainage ditches. That effort ran into a roadblock, however, after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied permits for the work. The Corps decided three main ditches in Carova had returned to their “naturalized state” and were no longer eligible for clearing. Currituck commissioners are now rushing to get permits for other ditches not yet in their “naturalized state” before it is too late. The county has not yet budgeted the work at Carova and North Swan Beach. But county officials say they want the permits on hand to ensure they can clear the ditches when they get ready. The county plans to dig the ditches, left untended for years, to their original depths. The drainage ditches are among several options the county is examining to alleviate flooding and puddling on roads like Sand Fiddler and Ocean Pearl. In many cases, the roads have become washboards riddled with potholes. Commissioners have discussed creating a service district to fix the problem, but it remains unclear if residents would be willing to pay for a new stormwater drainage system. In the past, residents have shoveled sand from the roads to fill their lots, leaving potholes that some hoped would discourage traffic and development on the remote stretch of beach. Now some roads run lower than surrounding lots, making the roads catch-basins for storm run-off. Commissioner Vance Aydlett, who owns a vacation home in Carova, said only the roads — not homes — flood, unless there’s a nor’easter with 20 or more inches of rain. Less rain can make roads impassable for a while, but residents on the remote stretch of beach have gotten used to the situation, he said. “There’s a whole lot more to this issue than meets the eye,” said Aydlett. Commissioner Paul O’Neal recently suggested fixing the roads behind the dunes to alleviate another problem in the four-wheel drive area — too much traffic on beaches during summer months. He said more traffic on roads behind the dunes would mean less traffic on the beach.. County officials have been studying safety issues in the off-road area, but have not acted on suggested changes so far. Another study may also examine the problem with flooding roads. County Manager Dan Scanlon said the county plans to conduct a study to examine the impact of future growth in the area designated by the federal government as a COBRA zone. The designation makes homeowners ineligible for federal flood insurance as a way of discouraging growth in areas it deems unsuitable for development. Despite the designation, development appears to be pushing its way northward to the off-road area. Some officials have predicted that construction of a mid-county bridge would add pressure for more growth. Agencies agree on bridges for NC 12 breaches The Associated Press Thursday, December 15, 2011 RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A bridge that would rise above the Pamlico Sound and bypass two breaches on N.C. 12 on Hatteras Island caused by Hurricane Irene is among those now being considered as a long-term solution for access to the coastal highway. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representatives proposed a bridge that would start north of a breach on Pea Island and reconnect with land at Rodanthe, the northernmost of the seven villages on Hatteras Island and the site of the second breach, the state Transportation Department said in a news release Thursday. The proposal came at a meeting of various state and federal agencies involved in finding a more permanent way to repair the road. Early estimates show the bridge would be 5 to 7 miles long, but it’s early in the process to be definitive, DOT spokeswoman Greer Beaty said. DOT is searching for long-term solutions to breaches on the highway, which is the only link from the island farther north to the mainland. Hurricane Irene, which struck in late August, chewed through the island, which was closed for weeks because of the broken road. A temporary bridge was built over Pea Island breach, and the road reopened in October. The agencies rejected beach renourishment as a permanent repair at either breach, leaving individual bridges as the only other options being considered. The only other option for the Pea Island breach is a bridge where the road now stands. For the Rodanthe breach, the agencies agreed that DOT should either build a bridge within the easement or build one that extends into the Pamlico Sound. “There are laws and regulations associated with some of the options that we are not likely to be able to meet,” Jim Trogdon, DOT’s chief operating officer, said in the release. “By focusing our efforts on the most realistic options, we can more efficiently develop long-term fixes for N.C. 12 that will provide a reliable way for people to get to jobs and education.” Warren Judge, chairman of the Dare County commissioners, said Thursday that he and other commissioners support beach renourishment as the best way to protect the highway. More important, he said, is just fixing the road. “We have stated our preference — beach renourishment. And not one-time beach renourishment. You build the beaches and you maintain them,” he said. “But regardless of what the answer is, we need a permanent, reliable, secure transportation link.” He said he was concerned that DOT would not have the money for the single bridge from Pea Island to Rodanthe. The agencies involved in the process still must sign a form officially agreeing to narrow the existing options and allow for the inclusion of any new options so the process can continue. The agencies expect that to happen within the coming weeks. OBX residents: ‘Safe zone’ for beach road unsafe By Cindy Beamon The Daily Advance Saturday, November 19, 2011 CAROVA BEACH — Residents on the Currituck Outer Banks say creating a “safe zone” to veer off-road traffic away from the shoreline will be anything but safe. The idea of a safe zone sounds good, admits Lynne Wilson, one of 30 off-road residents who met to discuss the proposal last week at the Carova Fire and Rescue station. But residents who drive the beach daily know it will not work, she said. A vote by show of hands indicated the entire group agreed. “Forcing vehicles to drive along the dune line is a nightmare solution,” said off-road residents Cheryl and Robert Ford. “Not only does it guarantee absolute gridlock for everyone … but it is also damaging to the fragile environment.” Residents say creating the safe zone will steer traffic to soft, deep sand near the dunes. They predict inexperienced drivers will get stuck and cause a chain reaction as vehicles following behind lose traction when forced to stop. They say not only will traffic back up, but response times for emergency vehicles will suffer. Donnie Tadlock of Carova Fire and Rescue said most accidents already happen near the dune line. In one case, a person got stuck in the soft sand and was injured as another vehicle circled around. The safe zone is one of several changes being considered by Currituck commissioners to relieve heavy traffic and safety concerns on crowded off-road beaches during the height of tourist season. The safe zone would steer traffic away from one or two miles of shoreline so beach-goers do not have to cross traffic to swim. Under present conditions, traffic on the 11-mile stretch of beach travels hard-packed sand near the foreshore and softer sand along the dune line while vehicles park in between. Sunbathers going for a swim have to cross traffic to reach the water. Residents said the change in traffic pattern will not solve the problem. “The problem is the volume of cars,” said Marie Long, who lives at Milepost 14.5, a location suggested for the proposed safe zone. She’s counted 200 tightly packed vehicles lining less than a mile of beach in July. That many cars makes it difficult for residents, and even those who rent beach homes, to access the beach, which should be their right, she said. Long said watching vehicles from her oceanfront home would convince anyone that redirecting traffic near the dune line would be a disaster. “All you have to do is see it,” she said. Long said the gridlock could cause motorists to damage dunes as they try to veer around traffic. The residents said rather than creating a safe zone, the county should focus on two other solutions. One would be stricter enforcement of existing rules. The county ordinance states that lawn chairs, coolers, fishing lines and people cannot block traffic driving on the foreshore. Rufus Baldwin said beach-goers set up “tent cities” and other obstacles that block traffic, but the law is not always enforced. Instead, beach-goers wave him to go around or yell when he drives along the shoreline on his way home. Rusty Thrasher said he was threatened after his radio antenna snagged a fishing line straddling the beach road. “Word has gotten out they don’t have to follow the rules,” Long said of beach-goers. The other solution suggested by residents — a permit system — has drawn the most criticism from some Daily Advance Opinion Piece Wednesday, September 28, 2011 We’ve long supported construction of the mid-Currituck bridge as a fix for the transportation hurdles between the mainland and Outer Banks. But what we don’t support is holding secret “idea gathering” meetings about the project among officials without the public being invited. Recently, the N.C. Turnpike Authority hosted such a meeting in Currituck, inviting commissioners from three counties, two state legislators and several other business and county leaders. The meeting, which sought ideas on how the bridge should be designed, was not advertised to the public. That didn’t sit well with some residents, who have been following the bridge process for several years. “I imagine all the pro-bridge folks were there giving their input on what Aydlett, Coinjock and Corolla will be forced to look at every single day if — and that’s a big if — this bridge gets built,” resident Jen Symonds told us. “What sense does it make to have others, not affected by the visual impacts, give input on aesthetics of the bridge?” Symonds rightly questioned why the Turnpike Authority would want to be secretive — intentionally or not — about the meeting. Certainly, adequate public notice would have been easy to do. But that didn’t happen. Because the group is not a decision-making body, and a majority of commissioners from each county was not present, a quorum did not exist that would have required public notification, according to Amanda Martin, attorney for the N.C. Press Association. Currituck Commissioner Paul O’Neal said he would have welcomed the public to the meeting, but since the state — not the county — set up the session, he was not aware of who would be attending until he got there. State Rep. Bill Owens, D-Pasquotank, said he didn’t know the meeting had not been advertised. Greer Beaty, communications director for the N.C. Department of Transportation, the agency that oversees the Turnpike Authority, said nothing was decided at the meeting. “It really was not a meeting intended to come up with long-term decisions that would be set in stone,” she told us. “It was just a starting point to get some ideas.” The $600 million bridge has been in the planning and discussion stages for more than 10 years. Legislation to build the bridge passed in the General Assembly in 1996. The bridge will cross the Currituck Sound by connecting Aydlett on mainland Currituck with Corolla on the Outer Banks. It will give northern vacationers a quicker route to the beaches, and provide an extra hurricane evacuation route. Despite the hefty price tag, the project is still alive, thanks to the controversial votes of Reps. Owens, Tim Spear, D-Washington, and three other House Democrats who gave Republicans enough votes to override Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue’s budget veto in June in exchange for support of keeping the bridge and other projects in the budget. The project still needs final approval from DOT. The Turnpike Authority is expected to release its environmental impact statement this month and make its final decision this fall. If those steps are successful, construction would start by next fall, and the span would be scheduled to open by late 2017. Meanwhile, we implore the Turnpike Authority and local officials to make sure all future meetings about the bridge allow for public input or at least a public presence. Though some meetings may not be legally required to be made public, with a project this size and affecting so many local residents, it is the right thing to do.
Mid-Currituck Bridge
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Turnpike Authority Confirms Preferred Alternative
Preferred Alternative Newsletter Description Length Estimated Cost Free alternate route Timeline
* These dates are anticipated and subject to change and depend on timely receipt of environmental permits. Federal doubts could delay, or doom, Monroe Connector-Bypass Concerned that the state may not have been truthful about the environmental impact of the proposed Monroe Connector-Bypass, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has withdrawn, for now, its approval of the project. The decision could delay or even jeopardize the $800 million toll road. U.S. Fish and Wildlife approval is critical. Without it, the highway can’t be built. At issue is whether the N.C. Turnpike Authority did an accurate study of how building the road would affect the Carolina heelsplitter, a federally endangered mussel. The Turnpike Authority was required to do what’s known as a “build vs. no-build study.” It examines what would happen to traffic, population growth and the environment if highways are built, or not. Three environmental groups have alleged that when the Turnpike Authority did its “no-build” study, it used data projecting that the bypass was already in place. Not surprisingly, the study showed little impact from the road’s construction. The N.C. Department of Transportation, which works with the Turnpike Authority, told the Observer in March that it used data projecting the highway had been built. But it said its engineers had adjusted their work but their conclusions hadn’t changed. The Fish and Wildlife Service in Asheville thinks differently. In a letter sent to the authority Aug. 18, the service expressed doubts on how “a fair comparison can be made” unless the authority assumes the road won’t be built. It said after the authority submits a “new analysis,” it would review it, and make a new determination. “This letter substantiates one of our claims,” said Chandra Taylor of the Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill, which has filed a lawsuit to stop the project. “We think this shows the agencies were misleading the public.” Turnpike Authority spokesperson Reid Simons said the state stands behind the project. “We are reviewing their request for clarification,” Simons said. “NCTA remains committed to the project and stands by the integrity of the studies.” When asked by the Observer if the authority would provide the “new analysis” federal officials say they want, Simons said the authority would be “gathering information, but no new analysis would be done.” She added: The authority “expects a positive dialogue in the next couple of days.” The authority had planned to begin construction on the 22-mile toll road as soon as a federal judge decides the lawsuit, which could come later this fall. The highway would link to Interstate 485 in southeast Mecklenburg and run parallel to U.S. 74. It would give motorists a speedy way to avoid congested U.S. 74, a popular beach route for thousands of Carolina families every year. The bypass would be the Charlotte area’s first toll road. The law center said the state never seriously considered cheaper alternatives, such as improving the existing highway. The Turnpike Authority is also planning to build the Garden Parkway in Gaston County, another controversial project. Critics of that toll road have alleged that the authority manipulated a federally required study to make job losses appear less severe. The authority has denied that charge. Clarification sought In its letter to the Transit Authority, the Fish and Wildlife Service said it had “repeatedly” asked for clarification on whether the bypass impact studies are correct. But after reviewing statements made by the authority in the lawsuit, the Fish and Wildlife Service said it believes the authority contradicted itself. In researching the highway, environmental lawyers said they became curious when the build/no-build scenarios showed little difference in how many miles people would drive if the toll road were built or not. On Dec. 2, 2009, a uthority engineer Jennifer Harris’ handwritten notes state that the data used “assumes the Monroe project in place.” Nine months later, in 2010, the authority told the federal government something different. It wrote in its Environmental Impact Statement: “Traffic Analysis Zone socioeconomic forecasts for the No Build Scenario did not include the Monroe Connector.” The law center said one of its attorneys last year asked Harris whether the bypass was included in the no-build data. Harris never wrote back, according to an email obtained under the state’s public records law. She did, however, forward the email to a colleague, with this one-line message. The email had a commonly used emoticon – a semi-colon and a parentheses ; ) – that resembles a wink. The state has said that the emoticon was an innocent message, and not meant to conceal anything. Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/08/24/2548050/feds-doubts-threaten-monroe-bypass.html#ixzz1YbmYZOVO Bridge ‘idea-gathering’ meeting not advertised to public By Cindy Beamon The Daily Advance Sunday, September 18, 2011
CURRITUCK — The behind-the-scenes “idea gathering” meeting earlier this month on the mid-Currituck bridge’s design was not intended for the public, says a spokeswoman for the state agency overseeing the project. The session hosted by the N.C. Turnpike Authority in Currituck included commissioners from three counties, two state legislators and a host of other business and county leaders. Despite the high profile invitation list and the span’s $660 million price tag, the meeting was not advertised to the public. A public meeting on the bridge’s design will be advertised later when the Turnpike Authority is ready to present its ideas, said Greer Beaty, communications director for the N.C. Department of Transportation, the agency which oversees the Turnpike Authority. “They are not even to the point where they have pictures or designs for people to respond to,” Beaty said. State law did not require that the meeting be publicly advertised because the group is not a decision-making body. Neither was a majority from any of the county boards present, which would have required public notice. Three commissioners attended from Currituck. Had four attended, the county would have been legally required to advertise the session. Elected officials from Duck and Southern Shores also attended. In addition to the elected officials, the invited group represented a mix of interests, including wildlife, economic development, the Currituck Chamber of Commerce, the Currituck Historic Society, tourism, engineers, the sheriff, county manager, other county staff members, and the project’s private investor, ACS Infrastructure Development. State Rep. Bill Owens, D-Pasquotank, said he didn’t know that the meeting had not been advertised. Currituck Commissioner Paul O’Neal said he would have welcomed the public to the meeting. The state, not the county, set up the session, and O’Neal said he was not aware who would be attending until he got there. Beaty said nothing was decided at the meeting.“It really was not a meeting intended to come up with long-term decisions that would be set in stone. It was just a starting point to get some ideas,” she said. —————————————————————————————————- How do the “invited” attendees know what Aydlett, Coinjock and Corolla Locals would want to look at every single day if, and that’s a big IF, this project gets built. I, as well as others in the Aydlett community, want to know why our county district representative, Butch Petrey, didn’t insist on having representatives from Coinjock and Aydlett invited to attend the design idea session. Since he stabbed us in the heart with his vote for the bridge project, he has done nothing for the Aydlett or Coinjock communities to help us through this process. Then again, NOTHING about this project has been open or honest. Webmaster.
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