The issue of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge replacement came up at the city of Wilmington’s agenda review meeting Monday morning, where Councilmember Salette Andrews requested a resolution be added to the city’s agenda to formally support the option for a 100-foot fixed span bridge.
That’s one of three options that's been shared with the public by NCDOT — the others being a 65-foot moveable span bridge or a 135-foot fixed bridge. Councilmember Luke Waddell, who represents the city on the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization’s board, addressed the ordinance immediately.
"I've noticed what I believe to be some factual inaccuracies with it. I think it'd be appropriate to maybe get some clarification today in this agenda briefing on this resolution and the items surrounding it in the process,” Waddell said.
Andrews asked that the council hear a presentation about the item from William Stoltz of the Historic Wilmington Foundation before further discussion (the presentation had been slated for the end of the agenda meeting). Stoltz said the Foundation prefers a 100-foot bridge, because of its limited cost and limited impact.
"We have to think about the loss of homes and businesses, the loss of historic properties, which includes historic preservation, investment, and tourism. And finally, we have to consider the view of the U.S.S. North Carolina," Stoltz explained. "We're advocating for the 100-foot bridge fixed because it best serves the Cape Fear region.”
Next came two speakers from NCDOT to answer questions about the current status of the bridge project. The bridge recently received a federal grant for $242 million, which is meant to cover half the cost of the bridge. That cost was based on the 135-foot plan. Landon Zimmer, who sits on the state transportation board representing the Wilmington area, said the funding for the project isn’t yet guaranteed.
"I believe that the $242 [million] was at 135 feet, we have, we don't have the money in the bank that's been promised to us, that's been earmarked from the federal government," Zimmer explained. "I would say that the question that Councilman Waddell asked was, would putting a stake in the ground jeopardize that? I think it possibly could.”
That is to say — Zimmer suggested a resolution advocating for a 100-foot span could jeopardize the project's funding, including the federal money and roughly $85 million from the state. Zimmer added that NCDOT’s navigational study for the bridge determined that a 100-foot fixed span does not pass guidelines.
The next step in the process is to determine the minimum vertical clearance, and that’s decided by the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard. NCDOT hopes to have that answer sometime this month — although it could be April, or later in the spring — which will give them more information about how to design the project going forward.
That discussion frustrated Mayor Bill Saffo, who questioned why the community was given any options in the first place.
"Why was the community given three options?" Saffo asked. "If 135 is the most critical component of this bridge construction, it was that way with the Skyway many years ago, 20 years ago, the navigational passage. You have navigational passages at 135 when the bridge is raised, you have navigational passages on the Isabel Holmes bridge when you lift it. So why was this given as an option to this community and specifically to that neighborhood that's going to have the greatest impact?”
The answer to that question was not clear, beyond NCDOT wanting to give a forum for public comments. NCDOT engineer Trevor Carroll says the 100-foot span is somewhat of a placeholder that can allow his agency to figure out all possible solutions.
"100-foot plus or minus 35 gives us that full range, so that we can adequately, and, you know, professionally, explore all those options so we can understand what those impacts are that,” Carroll said.
City Council will get even more information about the bridge, and the origin of the 100-foot option, at its regular meeting this week. NCDOT should decide on a height for the bridge in the fall of this year.
