Public comments will be critical for getting Bonner Bridge replacement project finally moving forward

Saturday 26 June 2010 at 5:11 pm If you thought you had done your civic duty submitting public comments on the National Park Service’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement on off-road vehicle rulemaking on the seashore, think again.

In fact, 2010 might be the busiest year ever for making public comment on projects and issues that will have a profound effect on our life and lifestyle on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands.  And they will also affect our visitors and off-island property owners.

The comment period on the Park Service DEIS ended May 11.

No sooner had we put that behind us than the North Carolina Department of Transportation issued its latest in a long line of environmental studies on the replacement of the aging Herbert C. Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet.

It is imperative that all islanders and visitors make comment to NCDOT about this environmental assessment.

“I’m worried that people think this time, it’s a done deal,” said Beth Midgett, chairperson of the Dare County Citizen’s Committee on Replacing the Bonner Bridge.

She emphatically says that “this is far from a done deal.” Read More