N.C. gets green light on new bridge to Outer Banks

After more than two decades, the project to replace the aging Herbert C. Bonner Bridge that connects the northern Outer Banks to Hatteras Island has officially graduated from the planning phase.

The Federal Highway Administration made it official Monday night by signing a record of decision that allows the North Carolina Department of Transportation to move ahead with construction.

Warren Judge, chairman of the Dare County Board of Commissioners, said: "We're extremely pleased with the results and the developments today."

The 47-year-old Bonner Bridge is a key corridor for hurricane evacuations and Outer Banks tourism and is well past its expected 30-year life span. Now, according to an NCDOT news release, officials are moving with a sense of urgency mandated by Gov. Beverly Perdue.

"Once the record of decision is issued, we move," said North Carolina Department of Transportation spokeswoman Greer Beaty. "People have been waiting years and years to get to this point."

The new bridge over Oregon Inlet will be designed and built under the same contract, expected to cost about $300 million. To save time, NCDOT already has screened three eligible design-build teams expected to compete for the contract. NCDOT plans to open bids in June, and construction is expected to start in early 2012. The bridge could be open to traffic in 2015.

There have been multiple face-to-face meetings among officials at different levels of government during the past few months, Judge said, and that cooperation made all the difference. "Everybody had their say, and everybody pledged to get it done."

The bridge is the only way to reach Hatteras Island by land, and nearly 2 million vehicles cross it every year, making it a crucial corridor not just for tourism but for hurricane evacuations. Portions of the bridge are decaying, especially on the underside, where concrete has chipped and steel structures are corroded. A state inspection in 2004 also found exposed reinforced steel.

State Sen. Marc Basnight has been pushing for a new bridge for nearly two decades. The Dare County Democrat said he's glad federal hurdles have fallen but is tempering his enthusiasm.

"What we've seen in the past is that dates that were projected were moved. I've seen that half a dozen times or more," he said.

The plan is to build the new bridge parallel with the current span, through the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. Environmental groups, though, have called for more study to see whether a 17-mile, $1 billion bridge that would bypass the refuge is a better alternative.

The 17-year lapse since the bridge's planned retirement date has created a problem not only for safety but for the area's economy, Judge said.

Tourism pumps about $300 million annually into the local economy, especially during the summer, when roughly 11,000 vehicles a day cross the span.

"It needs replacement, and it needs replacement now," Judge said.

This report contains information from The Associated Press.