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Pryor Gibson Apologizes For Changes To DOT Letter on Toll Projects

June 22, 2012 Comments off

Pryor Gibson apologizes for changes to DOT letter on toll projects

From the Raleigh News & Observer

 Published Thu, Jun 21, 2012 09:49 PM

Modified Fri, Jun 22, 2012 06:13 AM

 By J. Andrew Curliss – acurliss@newsobserver.com

By J. Andrew Curliss The News and Observer

 Tags: Jim Trogdon | Pryor Gibson | Bev Perdue

 An adviser to Gov. Bev Perdue apologized Thursday for causing the state transportation department to send false letters to lawmakers last week. He called it a mistake and said he wished he had been more careful.

 Pryor Gibson, Perdue’s senior adviser and her chief lobbyist in the legislature, also provided a glimpse into the sometimes messy budget writing and deal-making process while addressing a Senate committee conducting an inquiry. His testimony, along with other interviews Thursday, added a more complete picture of what transpired over the past week on a relatively small, but intensely fought, part of the state budget dealing with toll road projects near Charlotte and at the Outer Banks.

 Gibson, a former lawmaker, was animated while discussing the letters, which were sent under the name of a top DOT official, chief operating officer Jim Trogdon, without his consent while he was out of town and unreachable. When Trogdon learned of the letters, he retracted them and expressed concern.

 The letters were rushed to lawmakers June 14 as the budget was under discussion. They said as much as $63 million in state money would be needed in the next 12 months for two toll projects: the Garden Parkway near Gastonia and a bridge to the northern Outer Banks known as the Mid-Currituck Bridge.

 It wasn’t true, according to Trogdon. He has said he would never have taken that position.

 According to documents and interviews, Gibson and a Perdue deputy chief of staff had come up with the changed wording, adding the language to a letter Trogdon had already drafted for lawmakers.

 In several exchanges with senators Thursday, Gibson was contrite in discussing what took place.

Asked if he regretted what he had done, Gibson responded: “I think regret would be a soft word.”

Gibson has said through a spokesman, and repeated on Thursday, that he incorrectly thought that Trogdon would agree with the changes. He said he thought he was adding language to Trogdon’s position so that if threatened lawsuits weren’t filed, money could be available for the toll projects. Perdue, a Democrat, supports the projects.

 The Senate committee is scheduled to meet again Tuesday and decide on any other possible action.

Keeping Owens happy

Documents and interviews show that the letters were just a piece of a behind-the-scenes fight that had erupted over funding for the toll projects.

 That’s because money to start both toll projects was in the House version of the budget.

 But early last week, Senate budget writers did not go along, crafting a spending plan to limit the toll project funding in such a way that supporters of the projects viewed it as effectively killing them.

This was a huge concern in the House, where Speaker Thom Tillis, a Republican, has been gathering bipartisan and veto-proof support for the budget by working with a handful of Democrats.

 One of them is Rep. Bill Owens, a Democrat from Elizabeth City who has provided crucial support to Tillis. Owens said in an interview the Senate budget was “alarming” in that it would clearly halt the bridge project he and others have worked on “for half a lifetime.”

 

‘Like a chess game’

Gibson told the Senate committee that he first heard from someone early last week, likely Monday evening, about the threat to the toll projects, though he couldn’t recall exactly who it was. He mentioned both Owens and Tillis’ chief of staff, Chris Hayes, as possibilities.

 Gibson said what the Senate was doing had caused some lawmakers “heartburn.”

 Owens said in an interview he made a series of phone calls and had discussions with others who could affect the outcome. He mentioned Perdue and state DOT Secretary Gene Conti at least twice, but declined to say who he spoke with.

 “It was like a chess game,” Owens said. “They were making moves with their pieces. And you have to make another move to block. Everyone was doing what they thought was right, of course.”

 Hayes, who was working closely with Tillis on the budget, said Owens had been vocal about what was taking place.

Complaints from legislators

The next day, Gibson heard from at least two lawmakers who could benefit from the toll projects: Rep. William Current Sr., a Republican from Gastonia who has had an interest in land near the parkway, and Sen. Stan White, a Democrat from Dare County who owns a business that builds homes and rents vacation homes on the northern Outer Banks.

 Both say they are representing their constituents, not their personal interests, in advocating for the toll projects.

 Gibson said the legislators were “complaining” to him and were seeking help from Perdue to ensure money flowed for both projects.

 Gibson then spoke with Trogdon. Trogdon drafted a letter that essentially repeated his position from an earlier letter to lawmakers that said money wasn’t needed for the projects in the next 12 months. Gibson didn’t think it would answer lawmakers’ concerns, and that is why he caused the changes to be made, he said.

 “I was trying to solve one problem, or one issue, for a couple of legislators and I created another one…,” he said.

 White, a first-term lawmaker who represents a large swath of northeastern North Carolina, said in an interview he had tried to reach Owens to join forces on the issue but they never connected. White said the letter changed at Gibson’s direction played no role in his position on the issue.

 In the end, with Trogdon retracting the altered letters and reiterating that no money is needed in the next 12 months, the House and Senate left out substantial funding for the projects in the next year.

 Owens said he has been assured that funding for the projects is in place for future budgets. “The speaker has been good to his word to me and he fought to keep the bridge alive,” Owens said.

 Curliss: 919-829-4840

 Read More Here:  http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/06/21/2152034/pryor-gibson-apologizes-for-changes.html#disqus_thread#storylink=cpy

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Budget Deal Cuts Funding For Two Toll Projects

June 21, 2012 Comments off

Published Wed, Jun 20, 2012 07:49 PM
Modified Thu, Jun 21, 2012 05:19 AM

From the Raliegh News & Observer

Budget deal cuts funding for two toll projectsArticle
  
Republican Senator Tom Apodaca, left, chair of the Senate Rules Committee asks Jim Trogdon, chief operating officer of the state Department of Transportation to explain what happened with altered letters, in Apodaca’s hands, involving funding of some proposed DOT projects during a Rules committee meeting held at the N.C. Legislative Building on June 20, 2012. 

By Bruce Siceloff and J. Andrew Curliss – bsiceloff@newsobserver.com
By Bruce Siceloff and J. Andrew Curliss The News and Observer

 
RALEIGH — The House and Senate agreed Wednesday not to spend $63 million next year on two toll road projects that are running behind schedule, and a Senate committee continued investigating a pair of false letters drafted last week in a failed effort to push legislators toward a different decision.

House members had included some of the funds for the Mid-Currituck Bridge on the northern Outer Banks and the Garden Parkway near Charlotte when they adopted their proposed budget in late May. But Jim Trogdon, a senior state Department of Transportation official, told legislators June 8 that DOT would not be ready to spend the money during the coming year.

When leaders from both chambers released their joint budget agreement, they said the toll road money would be deposited instead in the state’s Mobility Fund for use on other road and bridge improvements. Some Senate leaders want to kill the two toll projects permanently, but they acceded to House members and agreed that the funding cut would apply only for one year.

 Meanwhile Wednesday, the Senate Rules Committee opened two days of hearings into a pair of letters sent to legislators June 14 over Trogdon’s signature, arguing that DOT needed full funding for both projects in the 2013 budget. Trogdon disavowed the letters later that day, saying he had not been consulted and had not approved them.

Trogdon said that the altered letters were not correct and were the result of pressure from Gov. Bev Perdue’s office. The changes made to the letters – described by Perdue’s office as “edits” – reversed Trogdon’s written position on road funding to say money for two major toll road projects in the state was needed in the next budget.

Trogdon told the Senate panel that he had been out of town when Pryor Gibson, an adviser to the Democratic governor, went to Trogdon’s office to meet with a deputy DOT secretary last Thursday morning. It was 90 minutes before the state Senate was to discuss the budget.

“What occurred in my office was about between 9:30 and 10:30 – the draft edits arrived that were presented to the staff,” Trogdon said. “And they were presented as a factual statement reviewed by the governor’s staff and attorneys, and must be completed, and this letter must be sent by 10:45.”

Trogdon said Gibson wanted Trogdon’s signature on the letter instead of the deputy DOT secretary’s, and an assistant added Trogdon’s electronic signature.

When Trogdon learned about the changes by the governor’s staff, he immediately said they were not true and began taking steps to undo what had happened.

Trogdon said the deputy secretary who was involved, Susan Coward, had known Gibson for years and “trusted his statement and judgment” to her about making the changes over Trogdon’s name.

“In this case, that judgment was flat wrong,” Trogdon told reporters later. He said Coward had been put in “a very difficult position” with Gibson pressing her for quick action on the two letters.

Coward did not address the committee. DOT officials have declined to make her available for an interview.

Gibson, the governor’s aide, is expected to appear Thursday morning before the Senate Rules Committee. Governor’s office officials say there was no intent to deceive anyone but that Gibson thought the changes, while made in haste, would keep the money flowing and were in keeping with the DOT position.

The false letters were addressed to two legislators, Sen. Stan White of Dare County and Rep. William Current of Gaston County, who have personal and family business interests near the project paths. Both had asked for Perdue’s help in preserving funding.

Current told House members Wednesday that his advocacy for the Garden Parkway had not been influenced by a real estate investment he made in 2003 involving land near the path of the toll road.

“I want you to know your representative did not have any idea at any time of promoting his personal wealth on this project,” Current said.

Siceloff: 919-829-4527 or blogs.newsobserver.com/crosstown or twitter.com/Road_Worrier/
Get the biggest news in your email or cellphone as it’s happening. Sign up for breaking news alerts.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/06/20/2149796/budget-deal-cuts-funding-for-two.html#storylink=cpy

Currituck Development Group, Currituck Mid County Bridge, Lochner MMM Group, Uncategorized none

Top State Transportation Official Calls Altered Letters “Flat Wrong”

June 20, 2012 Comments off

Top state transportation official calls altered letters ‘flat wrong’

Submitted by John_Frank on 2012-06-20 08:33

Tags: Under the Dome | Gov. Bev Perdue | Jim Trogdon | N.C. Department of Transportation | Senate Rules Committee

 UPDATED: N.C. Department of Transportation’s Chief Operating Officer Jim Trogdon told an investigative Senate panel Wednesday that altered letters sent under his name were not correct and were the result of pressure from Gov. Bev Perdue’s office.

 The alterations made to the letters — described by Perdue’s office as “edits” — changed Trogdon’s written position on road funding to say money for two major toll road projects in the state was needed in the next budget.

 Trogdon told the Senate panel that he had been out of town when Pryor Gibson, an adviser to Perdue, went to his office to meet with a deputy DOT secretary last Thursday morning, 90 minutes before the state Senate was to discuss the budget.

 “What occurred in my office was about between 9:30 and 10:30 — the draft edits arrived that were presented to the staff,” Trogdon told the panel. “And they were presented as a factual statement reviewed by the governor’s staff and attorneys and must be completed and this letter must be sent by 10:45.”

 Trogdon said Gibson wanted Trogdon’s signature on the letter instead of the deputy DOT secretary’s, and an assistant added Trogdon’s electronic signature.

 When Trogdon learned about the changes by the governor’s staff, after receiving an email from his assistant, he immediately said they were not true and began taking steps to undo what happened.

Trogdon told senators he worked quickly to correct the problem.

 Trogdon said the deputy secretary who was involved, Susan Coward, had known Gibson for years and “trusted his statement and judgment” to her about making the changes over Trogdon’s name.

 “In this case, that judgment was flat wrong,” Trogdon said.

 Coward did not address the committee. DOT will not make her available for an interview.

 The Senate Rules Committee’s inquiry into the letters said it will hear from the governor’s office Thursday.

 http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/top_state_transportation_official_calls_altered_letters_flat_wrong#storylink=cpy

Uncategorized none

Altered Letters From Perdue Staff Push Money For Toll Projects That DOT Says Aren’t Ready

June 19, 2012 Comments off

Published Tue, Jun 19, 2012 05:33 AM

Modified Tue, Jun 19, 2012 10:47 AM Article

 

By J. Andrew Curliss and Bruce Siceloff – acurliss@newsobserver.com

By J. Andrew Curliss and Bruce Siceloff The News and Observer 

Tags: Garden Parkway | toll roads | Mid-Currituck Bridge | transportation money | Gov. Bev Perdue | Pryor Gibson | Kevin McLaughlin | Sen. Stan White

 RALEIGH — Gov. Bev Perdue’s staff drafted a pair of false letters last week in an effort to start the flow of money for two major toll road projects that transportation officials say won’t be ready for state funding until 2014, according to documents obtained by The News & Observer. 

The documents indicate that Perdue herself was involved in the issue, which concerns a budget debate over $63 million in start-up money for the Garden Parkway, a highway project near Charlotte, and a planned bridge to the northern Outer Banks known as the Mid-Currituck Bridge. 

The letters were rushed to legislators Thursday morning over the signature of Jim Trogdon, chief operating officer of the state Department of Transportation. Trogdon disavowed the letters and retracted them Thursday afternoon.

  “Funds are needed in this budget cycle” for the bridge and the parkway, according to a key line in both erroneous letters. That sentence had been inserted into letters Trogdon drafted with the intent to send the opposite message – that DOT didn’t need the money.

 Two high-level Perdue staff members had added the new language, according to officials from DOT and Perdue’s office.

 When Trogdon learned about the new language from his secretary Thursday, he sent a message to her from his mobile phone.

 “Major problem with the sentence,” he wrote. “It is not true.”

 Perdue, a Democrat, was not available for an interview Monday, according to her spokesman, Mark Johnson.

 He said Perdue fully supports the toll projects and that the governor wants funding in place for them.

The false letters were distributed just as the Senate began its budget debate Thursday. The House had proposed to set aside money for both toll projects in 2013, but the Senate budget shifted the money to other road and bridge needs. The two chambers are negotiating over differences in their budgets, and the toll-road money is still part of their talks.

By pushing for funds in 2013, the false letters appeared to reverse a position Trogdon had spelled out in a memo June 8 to House and Senate budget writers. He said DOT expects to face lawsuits that will delay construction on the Garden Parkway and Mid-Currituck Bridge, so the state money won’t be needed until 2014. 

‘Without my review or consent’ 

In an interview Monday, Trogdon said his position was unchanged. He endorsed a Senate budget proposal to spend that $63 million on projects that will be ready to move forward next year.

“Based on all the foreseeable things we believe will occur, I do not see any way we will be able to expend any (start-up) funds on those two projects before” fiscal year 2014, which starts in July 2013, Trogdon said.

 Trogdon had been out of town when the false letters were drafted Thursday morning on DOT stationery, with his signature. He serves as a major general in the N.C. National Guard and was in Charlotte for security meetings related to the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

 When he returned to Raleigh that afternoon, he took steps to cancel the letters. He said in a follow-up letter to tell lawmakers that he had not authorized his signature on the twin letters. He said they had been sent to legislators “without my review or consent.”

 “I respectfully request that the letters be disregarded,” Trogdon wrote Thursday afternoon. 

Lawmakers’ interests

It all started when the Senate budget was released early last week without start-up money for the toll projects. That concerned some lawmakers – including one who has owned land near where the Garden Parkway will go, and another who rents homes to vacationers on the Outer Banks.

 Rep. William Current Sr., a Republican from Gastonia, sent an email to Perdue aide Pryor Gibson on June 12 saying that the lack of funding “would probably kill the project.” 

Gibson, a former lawmaker, is the senior adviser on legislative matters to the governor, who is not seeking re-election.

 Records show that Current has had a financial interest in the road, too. He was an investor in land owned by former legislator Robert Pittenger, who is now in a Republican primary runoff for the 9th Congressional District. Pittenger has a stake in roughly 2,000 acres near four proposed parkway exits.

Current, who has lobbied to keep the parkway moving forward for years, said in 2008 that he had sold his interest in the Pittenger/Parkway land to his son. Current was at a funeral Monday and could not be reached for comment. He issued a statement saying the Garden Parkway “promises major economic development potential for all of North Carolina.” 

Sen. Stan White, a Dare County Democrat, wrote to Perdue on June 12 about the bridge. White, a former transportation board member, is a real estate and construction businessman who replaced former Senate leader Marc Basnight after his retirement in early 2011.

 White owns a business that rents dozens of vacation homes on the Outer Banks. In the past two decades, his business has expanded to the northern sections of the Outer Banks, which would benefit from the new bridge.

 The loss of money for the bridge “will probably be the demise of this project,” White wrote. Two days later, in Senate floor debate, White cited one of the false letters to bolster his proposed budget amendment to restore the Currituck bridge funds. The amendment was defeated.

 Gibson asked Trogdon to help the governor draft responses to White and Current. He left a message saying Perdue wanted to discuss the issue with Trogdon. 

“The Governor is traveling but on her next stop they want to connect you with her to discuss attached issues,” said Gibson’s phone message to Trogdon, according to a note by Trogdon’s secretary.

 Trogdon says he spoke to Gibson but not to Perdue, and agreed to draft replies to White and Current.

In his proposed replies to the two legislators, Trogdon referred to his June 8 memo that had explained DOT’s decision not to seek money for the toll projects in 2013. Trogdon’s assistant emailed the replies to Gibson on Wednesday and said, “Jim asked that you please review the attached letters and let us know if the language is acceptable to the Governor.”

 Making the alterations

 The governor’s office did not accept Trogdon’s letters. Kevin McLaughlin, a deputy chief of staff to Perdue, drafted a sentence to add to each letter after discussing the issue with Gibson, according to Johnson, the governor’s spokesman. Gibson took the letters to DOT offices for Trogdon’s signature Thursday morning, when Trogdon was in Charlotte, according to an email to Trogdon from his assistant.

Susan Coward, a DOT deputy secretary, approved the changes, and Trogdon’s signature was applied electronically. Gibson personally distributed the letters to legislators that morning, according to the email message and Perdue’s spokesman.

 Gibson declined Monday to comment on the issue. 

Johnson said nothing nefarious was meant by the changes. 

Gibson believed that Trogdon was aware of the alterations to his position at the time they were made, Johnson said.

 He said Gibson, a former seatmate with Current when the two were in the legislature, was not aware of any financial interests in the toll projects by either concerned lawmaker. 

Sen. Kathy Harrington, a Gaston County Republican who helped write the Senate transportation budget, said the toll project money would be better spent on improving North Carolina’s existing roads and bridges.

 “The philosophy of the transportation budget is to take care of what you have and finish what you started,” Harrington said. “I have not been a supporter of the Garden Parkway project.”

Senate panel to inquire

 Trogdon said Monday that the revisions added by the governor’s office amounted to wishful thinking and a desire to reassure legislators.

“I think they were really trying to wordsmith some things to make everyone satisfied,” Trogdon said. “I understand they had a real deadline, to address those two members’ concerns, and they were pushing to have a letter drafted by 11 o’clock,” when the Senate began its budget debate.

 “In the afternoon I called (Gibson) and told him I was going to retract that letter, and they were supportive of me doing so,” he said. 

Trogdon said the governor’s staff had based its logic on the hope that one or both of the toll projects could avoid lawsuit-related delays. He said neither Coward nor anyone else in his office had realized that the edited letters misrepresented Trogdon’s point of view.

 After Trogdon disavowed the letters Thursday afternoon, Coward said she had been at fault for accepting the revisions offered by the governor’s staff. 

“I take full responsibility in trusting the edit as presented,” she wrote to Trogdon, to his assistant and to DOT’s lobbyist, “and apologize to everyone.”

 Late Monday, the Senate Rules Committee scheduled a meeting for Tuesday to begin an inquiry into the matter. 

Steve Harrison of The Charlotte Observer contributed to this report.

Curliss: 919-829-4840 

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/06/19/2146020/false-letters-from-perdue-staff.html#storylink=cpy

Currituck Development Group, Currituck Mid County Bridge, Lochner MMM Group, Uncategorized none

Appeals Court Rules Federal, State Agencies Illegally Approved Controversial Highway

May 6, 2012 Comments off

May 3, 2012

More Info: Monroe Bypass

Print This Press Release

Appeals court rules federal, state agencies illegally approved controversial NC highway

Ruling a wake-up call for DOTs nationwide to consider sprawl, other impacts of major highway projects

David Farren, Senior Attorney and Leader of SELC’s Transportation Initiative, 919-444-8717

Cat McCue, Senior Communications Manager, 434-977-4090 (email)

Richmond, VA – In a landmark ruling that has national implications, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled that the North Carolina Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration illegally failed to consider and disclose the potential sprawl-inducing impacts of a 20-mile highway bypass near Charlotte.

The court also chastised the transportation agencies for falsely denying to the public and other permitting agencies that they had essentially compared “building the road” with “building the road.”

“This is a wake-up call for NCDOT and transportation agencies around the country that the only legal way to assess environmental impacts of building major highways is to factor in resulting sprawl development on the landscape,” said David Farren, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. He said this is one of a only a few federal appellate rulings dealing with the fundamental precept that DOTs fully consider these secondary and cumulative impacts of building major highways when conducting environmental impact studies under the National Environmental Policy Act.

SELC represented Clean Air Carolina, North Carolina Wildlife Federation, and Yadkin Riverkeeper in challenging the agencies’ approval of the controversial Monroe Bypass, a $700 million, four-lane highway on the suburban-rural fringe of metro Charlotte, one of the nation’s fastest growing metro areas.

The groups said the NCDOT and FHWA turned logic on its head by assuming the bypass already existed when they analyzed a “no build” option. This fundamental flaw skewed the examination of cheaper and less damaging alternatives, and prevented a valid comparison of potential environmental impacts. Using faulty assumptions and flawed methodology, the transportation agencies claimed the Monroe Bypass would only make a one percent difference in the level of growth in the region. When the conservation groups pointed out this flaw, NCDOT denied it – a falsehood that was conceded only when confronted in court.

In a 16-page ruling (pdf), the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the flawed environmental impact statement, calling into question the validity of multiple permits that have been issued for the project. “The record here is devoid of any evidence establishing that the region is developmentally saturated such that a major toll road will no have no appreciable environmental impact,” the court wrote. “Here the Agencies not only failed to disclose the assumptions underlying [their data], but provided the public with erroneous information.”

The highly controversial Monroe Bypass would include no less than nine interchanges in 20 miles, on average one every two miles. The highway and ensuing development would pose a threat to water quality in the Yadkin River watershed, which provides drinking water for people and habitat for several rare aquatic species, and would increase vehicle-exhaust pollution in metro Charlotte, which just last week received an “F” for ozone pollution in the American Lung Association’s State of the Air Report. The existing parallel U.S. 74 corridor is highly congested, but DOT ignored its own study suggesting that all but one of the intersections could be improved for a cost of only $15 million.

“Residents of the Charlotte region can breathe a little easier now that the 4th Circuit has put the brakes on the Monroe Bypass,” said June Blotnick, executive director of Clean Air Carolina. “This decision comes during EPA’s Air Quality Awareness Week as we call attention to the causes of air pollution like major highway projects. Clean Air Carolina looks forward to a new environmental impact statement that shows the true cost this highway will have on our region’s air, water and wildlife.”

****************************
The Southern Environmental Law Center is a regional conservation organization using the power of the law to protect the health and environment of the Southeast (Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama). Founded in 1986, SELC’s team of 50 legal experts represent more than 100 partner groups on issues of climate change and energy, air and water quality, forests, the coast and wetlands, transportation, and land use.

WEB: www.SouthernEnvironment.org
FACEBOOK: www.Facebook.com/SouthernEnvironment
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/selc_org

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US Appeals Panel Blocks NC Bypass, Bad News For The NCTA

May 3, 2012 Comments off

Court ruling delays Monroe Bypass
By Steve Harrison
sharrison@charlotteobserver.com
By Steve Harrison The Charlotte Observer
Posted: Thursday, May. 03, 2012
Modified: Thursday, May. 03, 2012 More Information
Map: Route of the Monroe Connector-Bypass

The planned $700 million Monroe Connector-Bypass is in doubt after the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond Thursday ruled in favor of environmental groups who had sued to stop construction.

The court, in an unanimous ruling, said the N.C. Department of Transportation and other agencies “failed to disclose critical assumptions….and instead provided the public with incorrect information.”

The DOT violated federal policy that requires detailed environmental impact analysis for new highways, the court found.

The state had planned to begin construction on the toll road later this year. Now the N.C. Turnpike Authority, an arm of the state DOT, may have to re-do its impact analysis and apply for new permits, which could take years.

“They are back to square one,” said David Farren, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill, which was sued to stop the highway on behalf of several environmental groups. “The court found fundamental flaws in their analysis. And they found they weren’t forthcoming with public.”

The toll road is designed to serve as a bypass around congested U.S. 74 in Union County.

The state was required to do a study comparing the impacts of building the highway against what would happen if they toll road wasn’t build. That is known as a “build vs no build” study.

The Southern Environmental Law Center charged that the state didn’t do the study correctly. When doing its “no build” analysis, the Law Center alleged that the state used data showing the toll road had already been built.

That resulted in a “build vs. build” study, which showed minimal impacts from the highway. The DOT and Turnpike Authority said some mistakes had been made, but argued that the problems were minor and that its engineers had fixed them.

The 4th Circuit said the study was flawed. In its opinion, it wrote the agencies “incorporated ‘build’ assumptions into the ‘no build’ baseline.”’

It also said the agencies “either failed to address the underlying issue or incorrectly stated that the Monroe Connector was not factored into the ‘no build’ baseline.”

N.C. Transportation Secretary Gene Conti said in a statement that his agency is reviewing the ruling with legal and environmental experts.

“While this ruling will cause delays, it does not mean the project will not move forward,” he said. “We hope to have a new plan and timeline developed and released to the public within the next few weeks.”

The DOT could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Copyright 2012 The Charlotte Observer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/05/03/3216562/court-ruling-delays-monroe-bypass.html#storylink=cpy
 
I am getting warmer and fuzzier by the day!

Uncategorized none

NO T.I.F.I.A. FOR MID-CURRITUCK BRIDGE

April 26, 2012 Comments off

NO T.I.F.I.A. for the Mid-Currituck Bridge. The NCTA has failed for the 3rd time in 2 years to be invited for an application for T.I.F.I.A. financing. This project failed in the past due to financing and environmental issues and it will no doubt fail again for the very same reasons!!  Read the article in Toll Road News by clicking on link below.

http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/5906

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Appeals Court In VA Hears Challenge Of NC Bypass

March 23, 2012 Comments off

With the closing of the F.E.I.S. comment period for the Mid-Currituck Bridge, the North Carolina DOT and the Turnpike Authority are answering some tough questions from appeals court judges regarding another controversial Turnpike Project, the Monroe Connector Bypass, near Charlotte.  Southern Environmental Law Center and other environmental groups have challenged the environmental studies and their conclusions on the Monroe project.  The outcome of the appeals court decision could have major implications for for the Mid-Currituck Bridge project.  Below is an article from the Charlotte Observer.

Appeals court in Va. hears challenge of NC bypass

By STEVE SZKOTAK

Associated Press

By STEVE SZKOTAK

Posted: Wednesday, Mar. 21, 2012

Modified: Wednesday, Mar. 21, 2012 RICHMOND, Va.

  A federal appeals panel on Wednesday heard a challenge of a proposed toll road in the Charlotte, N.C., area, with opponents claiming state transportation officials used a flawed process to assess the environmental impact of the $800 million project.

 Attorneys representing conservation groups want a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court ruling last October allowing the Monroe Bypass to move forward.

The court typically rules a few weeks after hearing arguments.

 The 20-mile road southeast of Charlotte would stretch from U.S. 74 near Interstate 485 in Mecklenburg county to U.S. 74 between Wingate and Marshville in Union County. The bypass is intended to ease congestion on U.S. 74, a highway lined with shopping plazas and restaurants that slows to 30 mph or less during peak traffic.

 Attorneys for the Southern Environmental Law Center want to return the proposed bypass to the drawing board because they contend the North Carolina Department of Transportation concluded the four-lane bypass would have virtually no impact on development patterns, the Yadkin River watershed or air quality from increased commuting.

 Conservation groups such as the North Carolina Wildlife Federation counter that the highway would harm water quality and wildlife habitat in the Yadkin River watershed, encourage sprawl such as strip malls and subdivisions in the rural area, and contribute to air pollution in the Charlotte area.

Many of the arguments heard Wednesday focused on the state’s environmental analysis of the project.

Critics contend an environmental impact study was titled toward building the road and overlooked alternatives.

 Under federal environmental law, major highway projects must undergo an environmental review that compares the impact of a project being built versus a no-build option. Opponents said the state used the no-build option in both scenarios, then vastly overstated traffic levels on U.S. 74 if the bypass was not built.

 Judges sharply questioned attorneys representing North Carolina on that approach, which was found to be “immaterial” by a lower court that found the environmental review proper.

“Are you saying there was no error?” Judge Diana G. Motz asked Scott T. Slusser, an attorney for the state. 

“I would disagree there was an error,” Slusser responded.

 The line of questioning apparently referred to an official statement published in the Federal Register in 2010 in which North Carolina transportation officials denied the faulty environmental review.

 “So you made an error and did not correct that error?” Judge Dennis Shedd later pressed Slusser.

He responded in the affirmative.

After the hearing, a senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center said the record is clear.

“The transportation agencies compared not building the road to not building the road, and then denied it,” said David Ferren. He said the 4th Circuit’s finding could influence other planned road projects in the South. 

Besides the Wildlife Federation, the groups challenging the bypass also include Clean Air Carolina and the Yadkin Riverkeeper.

 Copyright 2012 . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/03/21/3114563/appeals-court-in-va-to-hear-nc.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

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The Mid-Currituck Bridge

January 20, 2012 Comments off

The Mid-Currituck Bridge in a Nutshell

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FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT RELEASED

January 19, 2012 1 comment

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!

Environmental Agency Comments to Draft Environmental Imapact Statement.  VERY INFORMATIVE.

http://www.ncdot.gov/projects/midcurrituckbridge/download/midcurrituck_SIforFEIS_Vol1_201112.pdf

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