{"id":712,"date":"2011-03-30T17:56:58","date_gmt":"2011-03-30T21:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/?p=712"},"modified":"2011-03-30T17:58:12","modified_gmt":"2011-03-30T21:58:12","slug":"ferry-bridge-could-be-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/?p=712","title":{"rendered":"Ferry, Bridge Could Be Cut"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Ferry, bridge could be cut<\/div>\n<div>By <strong>Cindy Beamon<\/strong><\/div>\n<p>The Daily Advance<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday, March 29, 2011<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><!-- end story pub share --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The proposed mid-county bridge and the Knotts Island ferry in Currituck could be on the chopping block.<\/p>\n<p>Both are included in a newly released list of possible spending cuts that state legislators plan to consider during upcoming budget deliberations.<\/p>\n<p>State Sen. Stan White said he received the 100-page list of reduction options from the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Monday night. Among the possible cuts would be eliminating the Knotts Island ferry altogether and cutting state \u201cgap\u201d funding for the mid-county bridge.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>White, D-Dare, said those projects and a broad range of other \u201cdevastating\u201d budget cuts may be up for consideration as the Republican-controlled Legislature eyes ways to cut costs during a tight budget year.<\/p>\n<p>Currituck County officials plan to meet with top-ranking Republicans and appropriations committee members this week to lobby against the possible cuts.<\/p>\n<p>Vance Aydlett, chairman of the Currituck Board of Commissioners, said eliminating the ferry would have a \u201cdevastating effect on school children,\u201d as buses would be forced to drive the more time-consuming route through Virginia. Aydlett, a Knotts Island resident, said the hour-and-a-half drive on narrow two-lane roads through Virginia Beach and Chesapeake is also a safety concern.<\/p>\n<p>Possible cuts to funding for the mid-county bridge have also prompted Currituck officials to rally support for the span that would cross the Currituck Sound from the mainland to the Outer Banks. Last year, the General Assembly, at the recommendation of now-retired Senate leader Marc Basnight, approved gap funds needed to keep down tolls in the public-private venture.<\/p>\n<p>The first installment of the $15 million a year was set to begin this year, but a Republican takeover of the legislature and a $2.4 billion state budget deficit have threatened the project.<\/p>\n<p>Currituck commissioners recently reaffirmed their support of the bridge.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the Currituck Chamber of Commerce has alerted interest groups to send letters to state legislators in support of the span, estimated to cost between $600 million and $800 million.<\/p>\n<p>Jim Owens, member of the Chamber\u2019s Legislative Affairs Committee, said the span has long been supported by area businesses and a majority of local residents. He said the Chamber was prompted to act because of upcoming budget deliberations and because of the \u201cculture change in Raleigh.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis year there could be some members (in the legislature) who are not favorable to the Currituck bridge, so we have to be vigilant to make sure that we cover the bases,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Aydlett said cuts in gap funding would end a project that has gained strong community support over more than two decades.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would be a blow to the vision that has been supported by a majority of residents of Currituck County for 25 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>State Rep. Bill Owens, D-Pasquotank, said critics of the bridge need to understand the long history of the proposed project and its importance to the county and the region. He said the meeting between lawmakers and county officials will be aimed at clearing up \u201cmisunderstandings\u201d about how the project was funded.<\/p>\n<p>Cutting the projects would have an adverse effect on the local economy, local officials said.<\/p>\n<p>The mid-county bridge promises to open up business opportunities on Currituck\u2019s mainland, Bill Owens said.<\/p>\n<p>Aydlett said eliminating the ferry would hurt Knotts Island economically by cutting it off from the rest of North Carolina. He said motorists enjoy taking the ferry across the sound and visiting the two wineries and restaurant on Knotts Island. Area residents also use the ferry to conduct business and attend meetings at the county governmental complex, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Without the ferry, \u201cKnotts Island would be a dead-end road to nowhere,\u201d Aydlett said.<\/p>\n<p>According to the N.C. Ferry Division, almost 28,000 vehicles and 85,000 passengers \u2014 including two buses loaded with students each school day \u2014 crossed the Currituck Sound by ferry in 2009.<\/p>\n<p>The list of possible state budget cuts also includes other changes in ferry operations and hours along the state\u2019s coast. Another proposal would require tolls for all ferries, including those on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands.<\/p>\n<p>White said the ferry changes were among other \u201chuge cuts\u201d in transportation that would adversely affect the lesser populated counties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ferry, bridge could be cut By Cindy Beamon The Daily Advance Tuesday, March 29, 2011 The proposed mid-county bridge and the Knotts Island ferry in Currituck could be on the chopping block. Both are included in a newly released list of possible spending cuts that state legislators plan to consider during upcoming budget deliberations. State [&hellip;]<\/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-712","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\/712","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=712"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":715,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712\/revisions\/715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}