The timeline for the Cape Fear Crossing project is getting longer. The proposed 9.5 mile bridge and road planned between Brunswick and New Hanover Counties is raising concerns for stakeholders along the route.
North Carolina Department of Transportation officials had planned to select their preferred route by this summer.
But after receiving more than three-thousand comments on the plan, Jamille Robbins, DOT’s Group Leader for Public Involvement, Community Studies, and Visualization said they need more time.
"Due to the amount of comments we’ve received, we wanted to back off of that. We’ve heard a lot of good feedback from the public. And so we moved that out to the end of the year. And that will give us more time to evaluate some additional avoidance and minimization measures on some of the potential alternatives. We also plan to evaluate the Brayton Willis alternative, as well."
That route, proposed by a private citizen, is what Cape Fear Citizen Coalition, an informal group of concerned Brunswick County residents, prefers.
Robbins also says DOT will answer all of the comments contributed to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.
