That’s a multi-agency agreement led by the Federal Highway Administration. A PA is meant to satisfy requirements set by Section 106, also known as the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. That’s a federal law that requires officials to analyze a project's impact on historical properties and make a plan to mitigate it.
Details around the bridge replacement are undecided, with officials still considering whether to replace the current bridge with a lift bridge or a taller fixed bridge. The lift bridge is the pricier option, but the fixed bridge would need to span further, potentially destroying more wetlands and historical properties. The current estimated price for the replacement is $1.1-$1.3 billion.
Before the plan is finalized, it's impossible to do a traditional impact analysis. Section 106 requirements are usually satisfied through a Memorandum of Agreement, a legally binding set of guidelines based on a prior analysis to make sure historic properties are minimally affected.
Programmatic Agreements are done when Memorandums of Agreement aren’t possible. A PA paves the way for analysis and mitigation as soon as it becomes possible and allows federal agencies to monitor the project in the meantime.
The city’s signature isn’t required for the agreement to go forward, and it won’t have any power to change or end the agreement. However, Wilmington’s Director of Planning and Development Linda Painter said signing on means they’ll be able to offer feedback on a future historical preservation plan. She said if the city didn’t sign, it would mean its comments would become no different than comments from members of the public.
Staff are already planning to make suggestions through the PA. Painter said, “Some of our comments that are on this proposed Programmatic Agreement get to the idea that we really think there should be a larger study area here, and that we really need to be contemplating the true overall impact of that fixed span alternative on the historic resources throughout the National Register district, not just the actual structures that would be within the right of way of the bridge.” The current impact analysis plan primarily focuses on the blocks east and west of Dawson Street and Wooster Street.
Painter emphasized the fixed bridge option would spell more adverse impacts on traffic in the historic district, especially along Fifth Avenue. However, she said a lift bridge replacement would also cause a strain.
The bridge replacement project is widely disliked due to inevitable disruption to the environment, properties and traffic in Wilmington. It’s also unpopular due to the increasing likelihood of a toll as questions of how to pay the project’s high price tag remain. Still, the replacement is becoming necessary for a few reasons. Repairs on the bridge are getting more expensive as it ages. The NCDOT has deemed the bridge “functionally obsolete”- not because it is unsafe, but because it is no longer well-equipped to handle traffic as the area’s population increases.
A number of other organizations have been given the option to sign on to the PA. The Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization is currently considering signing the agreement, but has not voted on the topic yet.