The timeline is a farce and NCDOT knows it!

1. There is no Record of Decision. No R.O.D., no bridge.

2. They are trying to fund 60% of the cost with toll revenue bonds and without the “gap” funding that was removed from statute, $28 million/year for 30-40 years; no private equity- the PPP was canceled last December; and no Federal T.I.F.I.A. loan all of which were needed to keep the tolls as $26 each way during peak travel times, the tolls will be vastly higher and will probably be cost prohibitive.

3. A Financial feasibility study still needs to be done to determine if the project is viable. The North Carolina Turnpike Authority annual report indicates that study won’t be complete until 2017 sometime, so the project has not been determined to be financially feasible.

4. A supplemental EIS needs to be done as the environmental documents are too old and inadequate.

5. There is no accounting for lawsuit delays which add at least 1.5 years+ to timeline.

So Governor McCrory, whose signature Strategic Transportation Investments law to remove politics from transportation decision making,  has reversed course and is now touting the poster child of politically polluted transportation projects – the very reason for his S.T.I. law in the first place.