{"id":1010,"date":"2013-02-17T10:38:17","date_gmt":"2013-02-17T15:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/?p=1010"},"modified":"2013-02-17T10:38:17","modified_gmt":"2013-02-17T15:38:17","slug":"new-transportation-secretary-talks-about-local-highway-bridge-and-ferry-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/?p=1010","title":{"rendered":"New Transportation Secretary Talks About Local Highway, Bridge, and Ferry Issues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
\n

February 14, 2013<\/em><\/p>\n

From the Island Free Press www.islandfreepress.org<\/a> for more news and information about Hatteras and Ocracoke islands and the rest of the Outer Banks.
\n
\nNew transportation secretary talks about
\nlocal highway, bridge, and ferry issues<\/strong><\/p>\n

BY CATHERINE KOZAK<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

The state\u2019s new transportation \u00a0 secretary backs the Bonner Bridge project, but he is not so sure about the \u00a0 Mid-Currituck Bridge. He also doesn\u2019t favor a ferry solution for Oregon \u00a0 Inlet, but he\u2019s willing to consider it in Currituck.<\/p>\n

Some might take it as a good sign \u00a0 that Anthony J. \u201cTony\u201d Tata, appointed last month to head the state \u00a0 Department of Transportation, calls the spot at the north end of Rodanthe \u00a0 \u201cS-turns,\u201d the name surfers use for the popular surf spot, instead of \u00a0 \u201cS-curves,\u201d the official name transportation officials call their current \u00a0 most troublesome hotspot on Highway 12.<\/p>\n

In a telephone interview this \u00a0 week, Tata, 53, who grew up in Virginia Beach, said he has visited the Outer \u00a0 Banks many times over the years with friends who have relatives here and to \u00a0 surf.<\/p>\n

Hatteras\u2019 own Bert Austin, former \u00a0 sheriff of Dare County who now lives in Grandy, is one of his close friends, \u00a0 Tata said, and Austin\u2019s nephew is his best friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a special relationship \u00a0 with the Outer Banks since my childhood, so I understand that the roads and \u00a0 ferries and shipping are the lifeline for the good folks on the Outer Banks,\u201d \u00a0 he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of key issues out there that we have to take on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tata, a retired Army brigadier \u00a0 general who served from 2006-2007 as Deputy Commanding General of U.S. forces \u00a0 in Afghanistan, was fired in September after 20 months as Superintendent of \u00a0 Schools in Wake County. Supporters say that Tata, hired by Republicans, was a \u00a0 victim of politics on the newly Democratic-controlled board.<\/p>\n

Newly elected Gov. Pat McCrory\u2019s \u00a0 office said in a statement that Tata\u2019s 28 years of experience in the \u00a0 military, where he addressed complex transportation challenges involving \u00a0 ports, highways, airfields and rail, makes him well-suited to the job as \u00a0 transportation secretary.<\/p>\n

Close observers of the NCDOT, an \u00a0 agency continually under pressure from the public and legislators, might say \u00a0 that Tata\u2019s ability to work in a war zone gives him the temperament to lead \u00a0 DOT.<\/p>\n

Despite being the subject of \u00a0 intense media scrutiny for the last two years, Tata spoke in a relaxed and \u00a0 amiable manner. But he didn\u2019t pretend he knew all the answers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a new secretary, you might \u00a0 imagine, we\u2019re trying to take a new look at several different projects,\u201d he \u00a0 said.<\/p>\n

When asked about talk in the \u00a0 legislature of tolling the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry — the busiest ferry \u00a0 route in the state —he initially responded that \u201cour feeling is that we \u00a0 should toll it all, or none.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see any reason for the \u00a0 citizens of the Outer Banks to pay for everything and not the tourist,\u201d he \u00a0 said.<\/p>\n

The toll increases at the Cedar \u00a0 Island and Swan Quarter routes to Ocracoke are already law, he said, that \u00a0 will go into effect June 30.<\/p>\n

But Tata softened his stance in \u00a0 response to local objections that contend it would be unfair to toll the \u00a0 ferry between Hatteras and Ocracoke, since, as the only access to the island, \u00a0 it is akin to a road.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s a valid argument,\u201d \u00a0 he said, \u201cand if there is no other alternative access, it\u2019s technically not a \u00a0 road, but it is a point of entry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tata dismissed the idea of using \u00a0 high speed ferries to transport people and vehicles from Oregon Inlet to \u00a0 Rodanthe, rather than replacing the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, and maintaining \u00a0 access on Highway 12, as some environmental groups have suggested.<\/p>\n

\u201cFerries,\u201d he said, \u201care not \u00a0 without disruption to the environment, also.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he said later in the interview \u00a0 that ferries of some kind are being considered as an option in the \u00a0 department\u2019s re-evaluation of the proposed Mid-Currituck Bridge project.<\/p>\n

Tata said that DOT intends to move \u00a0 forward with the Bonner Bridge construction project that has recently \u00a0 started, as well as continuing with plans to rebuild and maintain Highway 12.<\/p>\n

The DOT plan to replace the bridge \u00a0 is currently being challenged in federal court by environmental groups.<\/p>\n

Any notion of building a 17.5-mile \u00a0 long bridge that would bypass hotspots in Pea Island, he said, is not \u00a0 realistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just can\u2019t afford a billion \u00a0 dollar bridge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel it\u2019s feasible to build \u00a0 two bridges for $200-$250 million,\u201d he said, referring to spans over Oregon \u00a0 Inlet and over the new inlet on Pea Island.<\/p>\n

Construction of the proposed \u00a0 Mid-Currituck Bridge from the mainland to Corolla is still being evaluated by \u00a0 DOT, Tata said, including the possibility of using ferries.<\/p>\n

A legislative transportation \u00a0 committee has questioned whether the state can afford to build the bridge. \u00a0 DOT engineers have also said that the project is a low priority compared with \u00a0 other state transportation needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re having conversations about \u00a0 that right now,\u201d he said. Part of the discussion includes a back-up plan to \u00a0 address traffic congestion if the bridge project is jettisoned.<\/p>\n

Tata said that he intends to \u00a0 \u201cleverage projects to create jobs\u201d and to find ways to increase efficiency of \u00a0 maintenance of the state\u2019s roads and bridges. Projects scheduled in the TIP, \u00a0 the state\u2019s transportation plan, are also being evaluated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking at all of it,\u201d he \u00a0 said, but declined to elaborate. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a budget submission in a couple \u00a0 of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

As far as the construction of the \u00a0 U.S. 64 widening project from Columbia to East Lake, Tata said he understood \u00a0 that the four-lane road was critical to alleviate the traffic bottleneck \u00a0 during hurricane evacuations.<\/p>\n

But when told that residents say \u00a0 they\u2019ve never experienced a traffic back-up during evacuations — mainly \u00a0 because it\u2019s not the route tourists favor — and that the road would destroy \u00a0 their homes, Tata said that there has to be a balance between safety and \u00a0 heritage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something that we\u2019d take a \u00a0 look at,\u201d he said. \u201cThe highway widening is scheduled right now for 2018, so \u00a0 we have time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tata said he\u2019d like to sit down \u00a0 with East Lake folks and talk to them, adding that he plans to visit every \u00a0 transportation division in the state to hold town hall-style meetings.<\/p>\n

The date when he\u2019ll be coming to \u00a0 Dare County has yet to be determined.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s 14 divisions and one of \u00a0 me,\u201d he said. \u201cI might wait till the weather improves and the surf is up.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

February 14, 2013 From the Island Free Press www.islandfreepress.org for more news and information about Hatteras and Ocracoke islands and the rest of the Outer Banks. New transportation secretary talks about local highway, bridge, and ferry issues BY CATHERINE KOZAK The state\u2019s new transportation \u00a0 secretary backs the Bonner Bridge project, but he is not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1010"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1013,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010\/revisions\/1013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}