A toll bridge over the Currituck Sound is on a "fast track to construction" as engineers offered more details this week, including the intersections planned on either side.
The 7-mile bridge is still expected to be finished in 2013, but officials with the North Carolina Turnpike Authority spoke of the project Tuesday with more certainty, Currituck County Commissioner Gene Gregory said.
"I got a better feeling coming out of this meeting than I ever have," he said. "I've been pushing to get this thing built for 15 years."
Public meetings updating the project were held Tuesday at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Corolla, Wednesday at W.T. Griggs Elementary School in Poplar Branch and another was scheduled for today at Southern Shores Town Hall. A meeting was held earlier Tuesday for Currituck officials.
The bridge is one of the longest running and most debated highway projects in state history. Dozens of state and federal agencies and elected officials have wrestled over the viability of the project since at least the 1970s.
An early projected cost estimate was $39 million, with a projection in 1998 putting it at $87 million. Escalating costs and environmental concerns have delayed the project. Cost estimates now are about $470 million.
The project "is on a very fast track to construction," Steven DeWitt, chief engineer for the North Carolina Turnpike Authority told about 25 people, mostly Currituck and highway officials, gathered at the Currituck courthouse Tuesday.
On the mainland, the bridge would pass over the community of Aydlett north of Aydlett Road without an intersection, according to plans shown at the public meetings.
The span would connect to U.S. 158 in a compressed Y intersection, the least intrusive on nearby homes. Plans to widen N.C. 12 and U.S. 158 would be minimal.
In Corolla, the bridge could tie into N.C. 12 just south of TimBuck II business center or to Currituck Clubhouse Drive farther south.
An alternative to connect to N.C. 12 north of TimBuck II was eliminated.
Eleven residences and businesses could be relocated, according to figures presented at the meeting. Tolls would range from $6 to $12 and would be collected in cash or electronically.
Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com
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