[This is a developing story and will be updated as additional information becomes available.]
On Wednesday afternoon, the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO) met to decide whether or not they would consider an option for a tolled bridge to replace the aging Cape Fear Memorial Bridge. The 13-member board is made up of 12 elected officials from around the region — and one member from the appointed NCDOT board.
NCDOT has argued that if the WMPO considers a toll, it would allow the state to 'score' the bridge more favorably than previous un-tolled plans. The score is part of the State Transportation Improvement Program, or STIP, which for over a decade has used data-driven metrics to reduce the role of political clout in funding transportation projects, according to NCDOT.
Related: The past, present, and future of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge (The Newsroom)
Under state law, infrastructure like bridges can only be tolled with the approval of local regional planning boards like the WMPO. The NCDOT has argued that this means the WMPO can end the unpopular conversation whenever they want. But some local elected officials have noted the law effectively forces them to vote against the interests of their own constituents (not to mention putting them in the line of fire of local blowback during elections).
Ticking clocks
The issue of funding a new bridge has been debated for years. According to Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo, the bridge's capacity was an issue when he was first appointed to the mayor's office back in 2006.
More recently, in the summer of 2021, the option of a public-private partnership to build a tolled bridge was briefly raised by NCDOT after receiving an 'unsolicited proposal' — and loudly rejected by many local leaders.
The existing bridge is currently in the first week of five months' worth of intensive, $15-million-plus 'preservation' work that is already wreaking traffic havoc on both sides of the river. The frustration has renewed the public conversation about the need for a new bridge.
That conversation has lately been taking place against ticking clocks. The NCDOT extended the window to submit projects for scoring by several months to allow WMPO to consider a toll — but that extension runs out today, thus the need for an up-or-down vote on considering a toll. There's also a dwindling window to apply for a federal grant as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also known as the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The law created a pool of over $100 billion for major projects — but with aging infrastructure in almost every corner of every state, competition for the grants is fierce.
NCDOT officials have argued that, hypothetically, a toll-funded bridge proposal would score high enough to guarantee state funding to match federal grants. With those federal grants in hand, the state could then revisit funding the state's contribution without a toll.
It's a complicated plan that would require a lot to go right and which offers no guarantees — and while some local officials see it as the only path forward, not all are comforted, or convinced.
High-tension
The meeting started with a shouting match between WMPO Chair Hank Miller and audience members over technical difficulties that had made it difficult to hear the board's proceedings. Miller eventually pacified the crowd somewhat, but the mood remained tense.
As the meeting got underway, audience members spoke for and against considering a toll — while all agreeing that actually having a toll would be undesirable, to say the least.
Wilmington Chamber of Commerce CEO Natalie English, and several others aligned with her opinion piece in the Greater Wilmington Business Journal, made the case that the bridge is too important not to replace — and if considering a toll is necessary to move the project forward, they support it. Several others, many from Brunswick County — including the chair of the county Democratic party — made the case that a toll would inequitably hurt the region's poorest the most.
Executive Director Travis Gilbert of the Historic Wilmington Foundation presented some of the key points he'd made in a recent opinion piece published in the Greater Wilmington Business Journal. Gilbert argued that the region doesn't need the 135-foot bridge currently being considered and that the state could afford a less expensive 65-foot bridge. According to NCDOT, that decision is largely up to the U.S. Coast Guard — which does take into account public input, but often seeks to preserve existing navigation conditions (i.e. bridge heights, channel depths, etc.) when new infrastructure is built. Several speakers suggested in side-bar conversations that local and state officials put more pressure on the Coast Guard to reconsider the height requirements.
Several WMPO board members also made passionate appeals to reject considering a toll — most forcibly Saffo. He questioned both NCDOT Division 3 Engineer Chad Kimes and WMPO Executive Director Mike Kozlosky about perceived inequities between the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge and other regional projects that had not been tolled, like the Dan Cameron bridge carrying I-140 over the river north of Wilmington and the Hampstead Bypass. He also pushed Kimes on why multiple highways that are now experiencing extra congestion weren't factored into the 'scoring' of the bridge.
Saffo was also critical of the possibility of a private company running the toll, based on concerns about a lack of transparency and the potential for high 'congestion pricing' tolls. While the private company that expressed interest three years ago has since walked away, and the NCDOT is currently looking at a flat $2 toll issued by the state's Turnpike Authority, the inability of Kimes and others to categorically rule out a private operator down the line clearly made it hard to rebut Saffo's concerns.
New Hanover County Commissioner Jonathan Barfield and Wilmington City Councilman Luke Waddell were also critical of the proposal.
Barfield questioned Kimes about whether the NCDOT would still commit to funding the bridge if the WMPO declined to authorize a toll down the line. Kimes couldn't give Barfield a direct answer — in large part because NCDOT's finances are uncertain.
Barfield's line of questioning was interrupted by NCDOT Board Member Landon Zimmer, the only non-elected member sitting on the WMPO board, who called a motion to vote on considering a toll. Barfield chastised Zimmer for ignoring Robert's Rules of Order.
Waddell suggested several tweaks to the motion, seeking — like Barfield — to provide some security. Waddell's additions would have effectively bound the NCDOT to replacing the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge if no other option could be found, essentially the same kind of assurance Barfield was seeking.
When Waddell asked Zimmer if he thought his additions would endanger other funding sources, Zimmer said bluntly, "to be honest, I wasn't paying attention."
Zimmer defended his seemingly flippant response — which had drawn audible criticisms from audience members — saying that time was up, and the board needed to vote before STIP scoring began the next day.
Related: Landon Zimmer spoke with The Assembly's Johanna Still
Zimmer pushed back on claims that the STIP was unfair to southeastern North Carolina, noting that Brunswick, New Hanover, and Pender counties had pulled in disproportionately more in state funding than their populations would warrant compared to other counties.
Zimmer also repeated emphatically that it was "not a vote about a toll," and arguing it was the only way to access federal funding support by signaling to Washington, D.C. that they were serious about the project.
After just shy of two hours, the board voted 8-5 to approve considering a toll.
Nays:
- WMPO Vice-Chair Luke Waddell, Wilmington Councilman
- Bill Saffo, Willmington Mayor
- Brenda Bozeman, Leland Mayor
- Jonathan Barfield, New Hanover County Commissioner
- Eulis Willis, Navassa Mayor
Yeays:
- WMPO Chair Hank Miller, Mayor Pro-Tem Wrighstville Beach
- Bill Rivenbark, Chairman New Hanover County Board of Commissioners
- Wendy Fletcher-Hardee, Pender County Commissioner
- John Ellen, Kure Beach Commissioner
- Mike Allen, Belville Mayor
- Lynn Barbee, Carolina Beach Mayor
- Mike Forte, Brunswick County Commissioner
- Landon Zimmer, NCDOT Board Member
