?This is the most studied project in the history of U.S. transportation,? Jim Trogdon, chief operating officer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation, said last week.
He added that there are employees in the department who have been working on the bridge replacement since they were hired and they are now ready to retire.
Trogdon was talking on a conference call with The Dare County Citizens? Action Committee to Replace the Bonner Bridge Now. The committee met in Frisco on Thursday, July 22, for the first time in almost a year.
Committee members posed questions, and Trogdon answered them for almost an hour.
There were not any surprises in his comments.
He reiterated that he thinks that DOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will move forward on a record of decision on replacing the aging Bonner Bridge before the end of the year.
DOT conducted two public comment meetings on the Outer Banks in early July on its latest environmental study.
Trogdon said DOT received ?the most comments we?ve ever received at any of our meetings.?
?The level of participation,? he said, ?has been wonderful.?
DOT and FHWA will consider all responses from agencies and individuals and decide whether to move forward with a record of decision ? or whether the agencies need yet another environmental study to move ahead with the bridge replacement project, which has been going on for 20 years.
The Bonner Bridge was opened in 1963 and slated for a useful life of 30 years. The bridge is now 17 years past its due date for replacement. And, although DOT says it is safe for the public, it has a sufficiency rating of about 2 out of 100 and has been kept open with millions of dollars in repairs.
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement on replacing the bridge was issued in 1993. After several supplements to the DEIS, a Final Environmental Impact Statement was issued in September, 2008.
Since there were some changes in the plan to replace the bridge after the 2008 EIS, DOT and FHWA decided not to do another supplement to this much studied project, but to do an Environmental Assessment.
Trogdon told the committee and DOT and FHWA met with the Council on Environmental Quality before proceeding with the Environmental Assessment instead of the more time-consuming supplement to the FEIS.
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) coordinates federal environmental efforts and works closely with agencies and other White House offices in the development of environmental policies and initiatives. CEQ was established within the Executive Office of the President by Congress as part of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and additional responsibilities were provided by the Environmental Quality Improvement Act of 1970.
Trogdon said the CEQ had no problem with proceeding with an Environmental Assessment.
?The CEQ?s concern,? he said, ?was that it didn?t want to the use of the EA to limit public involvement.?
Thus federal and state agencies and local governments were invited to comment on the EA and two public comment meetings were held in Dare County. In addition, DOT is accepting public comment until Aug. 9.
The determination to proceed with the EA, Trogdon said was agreed to by DOT and Federal Highway Administration.
The Department of the Interior has weighed in that the EA is not sufficient, and that there needs to be another supplement. So has the Southern Environmental Law Center, representing a half dozen environmental organizations.
More recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, also commented, and that agency also favors a supplement, though somewhat more tepidly than DOI. EPA says it ?believes the preparation of a Supplement FEIS might be appropriate.?
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has also been heard from and apparently has no problem with the use of the Environmental Assessment rather than a supplement.
?Our position,? Trogdon said, ?is that we don?t think (a supplement to the FEIS) is necessary, and we don?t think it?s likely to happen.?
What most folks involved in the process do think will happen is a lawsuit by environmental groups.
Lawsuits cannot be filed until there is a record of decision.
Trogdon has said in the past he expects a lawsuit, as have Dare County officials and Beth Midgett, chairperson of the county?s committee on replacing the bridge.
Trogdon said that after the record of decision is filed, there is a 180-day waiting period before a contract on the bridge can be awarded.
However, Trogdon said that once there is a record of decision, DOT will move quickly to ask for final proposals on the design-build bridge project.
If the project proceeds, the earliest a new bridge could be completed, he said, would be late 2014 or early 2015.
If DOT has to retreat and produce a supplement to the FEIS, he said that could add another two or three years to the project, which has been about the amount of time it took to produce two supplements to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement in 2003 and 2005.
Trogdon added that he really could not think of anything more that DOT could conceivably explore in another environmental study.
However, Department of Interior, Southern Environmental Law Center, and the Environmental Protection Agency have all noted in their comments that they do not think alternatives to the parallel bridge with a management plan later on Highway 12 have been explored.
SELC still favors the longer, 17-mile bridge in the Pamlico Sound, which has been ruled out because of cost and other concerns. And SELC, DOI, and EPA all think that the idea of ferries hasn?t gotten enough study.
Got that folks? Ferries only onto and off Hatteras.
I am sorry but I find it hard to believe that educated and well paid environmentalists and educated but lesser paid bureaucrats could even being to think that ferries could handle residents who need to get on or off the island, the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come here every year, and all of the supplies that are needed to take care of all of us.
In fact, in its comments, SELC noted that ferries served Hatteras Island just fine at one point in time ? before the bridge was built.
So why don?t we just all return to pre-1963 life and economics?
I could go on here about this ludicrous idea, but it?s hardly worth the effort.
The bottom line, as we are so often reminded by the county?s bridge committee chairperson, Beth Midgett, is that there is something a lot more important here than even lifestyle and economics.
It?s public safety, and Midgett has organized a group of women ? the Bridge Moms ? whose goal it is to appeal to public officials to stop the stalling and build a bridge to protect the safety and the futures of their children.
The Bridge Moms have a letter writing campaign underway, and had 20 women at their first meeting last week.
In the coming weeks, Midgett says, the Bridge Moms will sponsor dessert potlucks in fire departments, home, and offices ? anywhere they are invited and at any time of day ? to help women write letters to public officials.
?You do not have to live on Hatteras or Ocracoke Island to participate,? Midgett says. ?Any concerned mom, of any age, who has a child or grandchild who travels over the bridge at any time is welcome. For example: Perhaps there are older mothers off the island whose adult children live on one of the islands? Or grandmothers from off the island whose grandchildren are dependent on the lifeline of Bonner Bridge? Maybe a mother from off island who has a son who drives a delivery truck on and off the island. A Mom from off island whose son visits in the fall to come fishing?. All are welcome to write an appeal.?
You can find out more about the Bridge Moms on their Facebook page —
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bridge-Moms/144941862188265?ref=ts
Or you can e-mail Beth Midgett at bethm@midgettrealty.com.
And don?t forget that you can make public comments on the bridge replacement ? as often as you like ? until Aug. 9.
http://www.replacethebridgenow.com/timeline.php
FOR MORE INFORMATION
To read the Environmental Protection Agency?s comments, click here.
To read the Army Corps of Engineers comments, click here.
To read the Department of Interior comments on the Environmental Assessment, click here.
To read the Southern Environmental Law Center comments on the Environmental Assessment, click here.
To read, the Southern Environmental Law Center comments on the Mid-Currituck Bridge project, click here.
Click here to read more about the Environmental Assessment of the bridge replacement project and the public meetings.
Click here for a timeline on replacing the Bonner Bridge.
Also check the Dare County Replace the Bridge Now website at http://www.replacethebridgenow.com
HOW TO SUBMIT COMMENTS
If you missed the public hearings, you can still submit comments until Aug. 9.
Citizens who did not speak at the meetings but would like to provide comments can mail them to Drew Joyner, Human Environment Unit Head, NCDOT, 1598 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1598. They may also call or e-mail their comments to Drew Joyner at (919) 431-6700 or djoyner@ncdot.gov.
NCDOT, the Federal Highway Administration, and other agencies will review the comments received and then determine if additional environmental studies are needed.
To read the Environmental Assessment and view the project maps, visit the NCDOT Web site or the Outer Banks Task Force Web site. Copies of the Environmental Assessment are also available at the following locations:
? Dare County Planning and Inspections Satellite Office 49815 Highway 12 in Frisco.
? NCDOT Resident Engineer?s Office 349 Waterplant Road, Unit B Manteo
? Dare County Public Library 700 U.S. 64/264 Manteo
? Dare County Public Library 56658 Highway 12 Hatteras
? Dare County Public Library 400 Mustian St. Kill Devil Hills
? Fessenden Recreation Center 46830 Highway 12 Buxton
Copies of the maps are available at the Dare County Planning and Inspections Satellite Office in Frisco and the NCDOT Resident Engineer?s Office in Manteo.
