The off-again, on-again project to replace the aging Herbert C. Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet is on again.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation signed off on yet another Environmental Assessment (EA) on the project last month.
And the conclusion is that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) believes that that new EA and the 2008 Final Environmental Impact Statement ?adequately document the range of impacts that could be anticipated with the Preferred Alternative? and that ?the changes identified in the EA would not result in new, significant impacts not previously identified.?
In other words, the bridge replacement project is moving along again.
Now, the FHWA wants the public to comment on the new environmental study to determine whether a supplement to the FEIS is needed.
Public meetings for input are scheduled for the first week of July. And the public can comment by mail, e-mail, or phone call to the Department of Transportation. (Details are available in an article on the Local News Page of this website.)
After the FEIS was issued in September, 2008, we all thought the project was heading for a Record of Decision (ROD) by DOT. The FEIS supported the DOT plan to build a shorter bridge parallel to the current one and to address problems of overwash on Highway 12 in phases.
Last June, DOT officials identified a variation of that plan ? the ?Road North/Bridge South? alternative. The centerpiece of this option would be replacing the existing span with a parallel bridge and taking the adaptive management approach to solving the problems with the highway through the refuge and replacing the highway from the south end of the refuge into northern Rodanthe with a bridge.
At that time, DOT officials said they expected to issue 2008 Final Environmental Impact Statement in July or August. On that schedule, a Record of Decision was expected at the end of last year.
Instead, in January, the FHWA asked DOT to go back and prepare another Environmental Assessment of the plan.
Construction of the bridge was at one point expected to begin this year and be completed in 2013.
Instead, it was back to studying the environmental issues.
If you are confused at this point, you are not alone.
Keeping up with the bridge replacement schedule has not been easy since DOT started planning two decades ago to replace the aging span that opened in 1963.
Meanwhile, funds have been poured into repairing the bridge, which now has a safety rating of 2 out of a possible 100. DOT officials say that with the repairs, the bridge is still safe for the public.
About 10 years ago, a plan was put forward to build a 17-mile bridge parallel to the island that would bypass Pea Island and land in Rodanthe.
That bridge, preferred by many environmental organizations, was declared too costly to build, and a federal, state, and local interagency task force endorsed the shorter, parallel bridge.
Along the way to getting construction underway, there have been various Draft Environmental Impact Statements, Preliminary Final Environmental Impact Statements, Final Environmental Impact Statements, and Supplements to the Final Environmental Impact Statement.
A brief chronology:
? 1990. State begins feasibility study for replacing Bonner Bridge
? 1993. Draft Environmental Impact Statement on bridge replacement released for review. It favored a parallel bridge.
? Public hearings on DEIS.
? Preliminary Final Environmental Impact Statement issued, which was never signed because of lack of consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
? Because so much time had passed, officials decided to prepare a supplement to the DEIS.
? Work begins on supplement to DEIS. Long-bridge option included.
? Supplement to DEIS completed, identifying five alternatives, including short- and long-bridge options.
? Two more parallel bridge options lead to a supplement to the 2005 supplement of the DEIS.
? Final Environmental Impact Statement signed in September. Favors parallel bridge with phased approach to Highway 12 options as the preferred alternative to the supplemental DEIS and the supplement to the supplemental DEIS.
? Preferred option altered, but still includes parallel bridge.
? January, 2010. FHWA requests another Environmental Assessment.
? May, 2010. New Environmental Assessment released.
? June, 2010. Public comment period announced with public meetings scheduled for July.
? Next up. Examine public comments on new EA and determine if more environmental studies are needed. I guess that could be a supplement to the supplement of the supplement of the original 2001 DEIS.
All you can say for now is that the replacement project is moving again. But when a new bridge will be built is anyone?s guess.
Meanwhile, it time to write more comments to the government on how much we really, really need this bridge.
Sen. Marc Basnight, a Manteo Democrat who is President Pro Tem of the state Senate, has been doing his share of writing letters.
He sent one to President Barack Obama in February to plead for a new bridge to Hatteras.
And he sent another last week.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
State Sen. Marc Basnight?s June 3 letter to President Barack Obama
And for more background on what has brought us to this point, check these stories on the Free Press site:
The eco?s will sue as soon as a new plan is proposed. Letting the Bonner Bridge fail is part of their plan to reduce the island to a wildlife refugee. No brige mean fewer people. All part of the plan.