“I was repulsed,” said Beth Midgett, chairperson of Dare County’s Citizens Committee to Replace the Bonner Bridge. “What an opportunistic thing to do.”

Midgett was talking about a media release last week from the Southern Environmental Law Center and five other environmental groups calling on the state of North Carolina to drop its plan for a short bridge over Oregon Inlet to replace the aging Bonner Bridge and go back to the planning board on the long bridge option.

“I am just repulsed by the fact that they seem to be so concerned about the citizens of Hatteras Island,” she added.

The headline on the release was:

Groups Call on N.C. to Build Safer Route after Sea Reclaims Outer Banks Highway
Longer Bridge Option Less Exposed and Safer for People and Refuge

“The recent storm is Mother Nature’s comment on NCDOT’s plan to replace Bonner Bridge at its current location and ignore access problems south of the bridge,” said Julie Youngman of SELC in the release. “The state should put people’s safety first, build the safer, less-exposed ‘long bridge’ that bypasses the most rapidly eroding section of the island, and let nature take its course in the wildlife refuge.”

Midgett says in the interview with Island Free Press reporter and videographer Rob Alderman that if SELC and the other groups are really so concerned about Hatteras islanders, they would endorse building the short bridge, since the long bridge has been deemed too expensive and the current bridge has served past its expected useful life.  It has received a safety rating of two out of 100.

And she says Highway 12 on Hatteras must be maintained for the safety of islanders and visitors.

What happened last week, she said, “has nothing to do with a bridge. It has to do with a highway being properly maintained.”

What would she say about the current situation, Alderman asked, if she were in a room of powerful North Carolina politicians?

“I would say, ‘Why are you doing this to us?’” Midgett responded.



To see the video of the interview with Beth Midgett, click here.

To see an interview with Dare County Commissioner Allen Burrus of Hatteras about the bridge situation, click here.

For more information about the SELC media release, see the editor’s blog from Thursday, Nov. 19.

For more information on the current timetable for replacing the bridge, see the editor’s blog from Wednesday, Nov. 11.