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``This may be just what is needed to get things moving for the
construction of a safe and dependable transportation corridor between
the northern and southern portions of our community,’’ said Warren
Judge, Chairman of the Dare County Board of Commissioners after reading
the letter sent by North Carolina State Senate President Pro Tem Marc
Basnight to President Obama.
In that letter, Senator Basnight asked the President to directly
intercede in ending the bureaucratic delays that have stalled
replacement of the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge at Oregon Inlet on North
Carolina’s Outer Banks for over 20 years.
Senator Basnight stated, ``…we continue to face unnecessary delays from
a government that is more worried about the litigious threats of
out-of-state environmental groups than about the public safety and
economic well-being of the millions of motorists who cross the bridge
every year. I plead with you to right this wrong that has wasted
millions of dollars and infinite red tape over the years – at the hands
of federal bureaucrats and at the risk of the safety of millions of
people.’’
Special interest groups have stalled and delayed the replacement of the
Bonner Bridge since 1992, the year that the bridge which opened in 1963
was programmed for replacement. The groups hope to prevent visitors and
traffic access to the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on the north
end of Hatteras Island, a favorite vacation spot for fishermen,
birdwatchers, families, surfers and, ironically, environmentalists.
Senator Basnight went on to say, ``Mr. President, only you and your
administration can shake loose this bureaucratic standstill.”
Senator Basnight’s letter also points out to the President that funding
has already been set aside in the state budget for the project so no
additional funding is necessary, no additional plans are necessary as
more than $30 million dollars has already been spent developing plans
and conducting studies that have cleared all federal and state agencies
and, most importantly, no more talk is needed as the ``…Bonner
replacement project is the most studied bridge in our country.’’
According to Beth Midgett, ``We have been frustrated for many years
while waiting to get this bridge built for the health and safety of our
community. The Bonner Bridge is the only land link for our community who
need it to get to jobs, seek hospital care and run businesses.’’ Midgett
chairs the county-appointed, Citizens Action Committee to Replace the
Bonner Bridge (www.replacethebridgenow.com).
Midgett went on to say that “it would be incomprehensible for residents
in a neighborhood in Raleigh to be told that they were no longer allowed
to access their homes via a road that they have traveled for over 60
years, yet that is what residents of Hatteras Island are being
told to accept.” Midgett says that families have been left,
literally begging, for the past 20 years to have a safe way to get home,
something most people take for granted every day of their lives. She added that, at one point, the Bonner Bridge received an inspection
rating of only two out of 100.
North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) officials had
initially planned to hold hearings and issue a Record of Decision (ROD)
to begin construction of the new bridge this spring (2010) so that the
project would be completed by 2014.
Because special interest groups insist that additional environmental
assessments be done, work on a new bridge will not begin until spring of
2011 at the earliest.
``Federal and state agencies have done environmental assessments over
and over again since 1992 when the replacement project was first due to
be constructed," commented Dare County Commissioner and Vice
Chairman Allen Burrus who represents Hatteras Island, the southern
region of the county. ``The Department of Transportation’s
recommendation to replace the bridge and create a series of elevated
roadway segments over hotspots on Pea Island in phases has been proven
to be the least environmentally damaging and the most economical of
seven plans considered. I am thrilled that Senator Basnight has
communicated our frustration to President Obama with such clarity and
force.’’
Senator Basnight explained in his letter, ``At stake in this battle is
not only the economic future of generations of families, but also the
rich cultural heritage that has been at the center of Americana since
John White's arrival in the 16th Century. These coastal families, almost
all of whom come from modest backgrounds such as yours and mine, have
been under assault for almost a decade by these out-of-state and
out-of-touch environmental groups whose ultimate goal is to remove all
human activities from Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands.’’
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