Benjamin Schachtman: So Aaleah, what’s the scoop?
Aaleah McConnell: Yeah, so as part of the preliminary work for the CFMB replacement project, which by the way is estimated to cost around $1.1 billion, the North Carolina Department of Transportation is holding a public comment period until October 15, with two in-person public hearings.
The first hearing, for New Hanover County, took place Monday night at CFCC’s Daniels Hall, where over 60 residents spoke. The majority of them staunchly opposed tolling the bridge.
But the NCDOT representative who spoke, gave the impression that tolling the bridge might be inevitable at this point in the process. She pointed out that the reason the project even has the funding that it does now, is due to the tolled-bridge faring better in the bid for funding in NCDOT’s State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) process than the non-tolled option:
“So the project did compete for funding as both a tolled and a non-tolled project in the STIP. However, only the tolled version of the project scored highly enough in the STIP for funding," the representative said. “I just want to be clear to everybody in the room tonight that if we were to move forward without tolls on one of these options, another funding source would need to be identified in order for the project to move forward, and without an alternative funding source identified, there would be no project.”
B: An NCDOT representative, whose name we couldn’t verify, says that the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization — that's our regional transportation planning authority — voted to support all funding options, including the toll. Now, if this bridge is indeed tolled, she says the state legislature would still need to approve it.
A: That's right.
B: And Aaleah, I know from my own reporting and some of your recent work, that NCDOT has two current design options up for consideration. Could you briefly describe what those are for people who may still be unfamiliar?
A: So, Alternative A, a movable-segment bridge that would raise to 135 feet to allow for waterway clearance, would be similar in footprint, placement, and function to the current bridge.
Alternative B, a 135-ft fixed-span bridge, would be obviously much, much taller and longer. Many argued that Alternative B would also have a far greater impact on Wilmington’s neighborhoods, businesses, and traffic flow – specifically along Fifth Avenue where the on-ramps for the bridge would be placed.
Here’s what some Wilmington residents had to say.
“When these economic costs are added to the balance, it is clear that Alternative B is the most damaging, the most expensive, the most costly, and should not be the preferred alternative,” said one NHC resident.
"A tightly knit community, and a thriving business district. It took a while and significant investment by many committed individuals. I strongly oppose Alternative B, the fixed bridge with what I call its span of destruction," another resident said.
Another questioned, "who is option B even for? Because nobody wants it. It's not safer, it's certainly not the better environmental option, and it's definitely not the free option. Who would have thought that South Carolina would end up with better infrastructure than North Carolina?"
B: As this project inches closer and closer to being a real part of life downtown — impacting traffic, homes and businesses — most of the city council members weighed in at Monday night’s hearing as well.
A: Yes, as a matter of fact, they canceled their regular city council meeting this week just to attend these hearings. Almost all of the council members spoke, including Chakema Clinton-Quintana, Cassidy Santaguida, Salette Andrews, J.C. Lyle, David Joyner, and Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo. Mayor pro Tem Kevin Spears had a representative speak on his behalf.
Earlier this month, the council unanimously voted to oppose Alternative B, in favor of less-impactful design options at this month’s city council meeting.
But at the hearing, it was Andrews who addressed some of the maritime concerns that have been touched on over the course of bridge discussions, but have kind of been placed on the back burner, and whether the bridge should actually be required to provide 135-foot clearance at all:
“In 2022, the U.S. Coast Guard issued a preliminary navigation clearance determination requiring 178 feet for the replacement of the interstate bridge between Washington and Oregon, but Washington and Oregon didn't treat that number as immutable. They submitted an updated Navigation Impact Report and asked the Coast Guard to reconsider. And the Coast Guard did something I think is particularly instructive for us: it examined the vessels that actually needed more than the proposed lower clearance," she said. “So tonight, I ask the NCDOT, will you prepare an updated navigation impact report and formally ask the Coast Guard to reconsider the 135-foot preliminary determination.”
B: So I hear the public hearing lasted nearly three hours, and most, if not all people favored Alternative A and no toll.
A: Yeah, many residents were roaring with applause every time a speaker made a pertinent point about the potential environmentally and economically damaging effects the fixed-span bridge would have. Some were even waving red signs with a giant A on it, representing their support for Alternative A.
It couldn’t be clearer what many residents in Wilmington want.
B: There was a second hearing in Leland as well; did the folks on the Brunswick County side feel any different to what’s being proposed?
A: Actually, Ben, considering it seems likely Wilmington will bear the brunt of the infrastructural impacts that might occur from the construction of the new bridge specifically, I didn’t hear too much advocacy of one bridge design over the other during the Brunswick hearing. But still it was clear that Alternative A was the preferred option for BrunsCo residents as well.
I was surprised to hear that they still echoed a lot of the same concerns though, mainly the effect the construction of the bridge, or the likely tolling of the bridge, will have on traffic and their budgets.
All that to say, if traffic impact is one of the most pressing concerns for New Hanover County residents, then economic impact is probably the main concern for BrunsCo residents.
And I’m gonna just roll through some clips so you can hear from the residents themselves:
“If we have a mandatory evacuation in our area, the traffic already like it is, we're going to have a problem… Option A, traffic is still going to be gridlock because the bridge has to go up and down for shipping vessels, even for sailboats.”
“A lot of people live in Leland because they can't afford to live in Wilmington, and you know, we're talking people who work fast food or, you know, not everybody here is wealthy. it really digs into a budget unfairly.”
“No resident on either side of the river wants a toll bridge. I don't know who thought this was a good option, but if there were if there were a vote on this, I don't think anybody, this is the one item that would put together both sides, red and blue: no tolls.”
B: Some local business owners talked about how this could impact their bottom-line tremendously. Here’s one owner describing how those increased costs for businesses could trickle down to consumers:
“My business is down in the Gateway District on Village Road. One of the things that I'm thinking about in respect to the tolls is that many of my vendors are in Wilmington and have to constantly come over the bridge to make deliveries to my business. That will increase my costs, which will then spill over to my customers.”
A: Some Wilmington City Council members attended this hearing as well. They were Mayor Bill Saffo, J.C. Lyle and Chakema Clinton-Quintana, who had this to say:
“For someone who crosses this bridge every day to get to work, additional transportation costs are simply not an inconvenience; they come directly out of a household budget. That money could otherwise pay for groceries, childcare, medicine, utilities, rent, or a mortgage.”
A: I do want to note New Hanover County Commissioner Rob Zapple, who’s running for re-election in this year’s midterm, also spoke.
B: Yes, and we should note that Zapple’s on the WHQR board of directors, which has no say in our editorial decisions or news coverage. OK, so what's next in this bridge replacement saga?
A: Well these were possibly the last public hearings of this process. But as I mentioned earlier, the public comment period will last until October 15, which means New Hanover and Brunswick county residents can still email comments to capefearmemorialbridge@publicinput.com.
After the deadline, DOT engineers will use feedback from these meetings to work toward making a final selection by the end of this year.
B: Aaleah, thank you for your report on this.
A: No problem!
