There has been a lot of media attention to replacing the aging Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet, which is Hatteras Island’s only land link to the rest of the state.  And not all of the folks writing and talking about the long bureaucratic struggle to choose a replacement option have the facts straight.

The short bridge option parallel to the current bridge with a phased approach to solving the problems of ocean overwash and erosion on Highway 12 is the only reasonable and feasible option that fully complies with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), minimizes the environmental impact to Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and the Pamlico Sound, as well as provides the most desirable and dependable access to Hatteras Island for all citizens.

The longer bridge alternative, a 17.5 mile bridge built out in the Pamlico Sound west of Hatteras that would come onto the island at Rodanthe, will not meet those goals and is too expensive to build.

In 2005, when I came to the General Assembly as Director of Strategic and Transportation Planning for the state Senate and House of Representatives, Sen. Marc  Basnight, the Senate President Pro Tem who represents Dare County, requested that I evaluate and assist in the Bonner Bridge Project. I came to the General Assembly position after 23 years in highway engineering.  Fifteen of those years were with the North Carolina Department of Transportation, where my last position was Division Engineer for the Fourth Highway Division (Johnston, Wayne, Wilson, Nash, Edgecombe, and Halifax counties).

My assessment in 2005 was that NCDOT was going to select the 17.5 mile option as the least environmentally damaging preferred alternative, but that the project was so expensive it could never be built.

At the General Assembly, with the outstanding assistance of Norma Mills (Senator Basnight’s former chief of staff), we developed the balanced approach alternative, which came out of extensive research of the existing studies, NEPA practices and requirements, as well as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Compatibility Determination requirements, which are included in the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act.  We had discussions with environmental groups, environmental leaders, as well as USFWS, attempting to reach a workable compromise, before enlisting the support of Gov. Mike Easley, U.S. Senators Richard Burr and Elizabeth Dole, as well as the concurrence from Department of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, for the balanced approach.  Unfortunately, I was called to active duty with the National Guard in May, 2006, but the efforts along this track were sustained by Lori Kroll at NCDOT.

In August 2006, a decision was made by NCDOT to proceed with the balanced, now called the phased, approach.
 
North Carolina does not receive enough transportation funds to build the 17.5 mile Pamlico Sound bridge alternative.  Our annual federal receipts are approximately $800 million for the entire state, a considerable portion of which can not be used for this project.  It would require about all the federal and state funds allocated for all construction and bridge replacement over a seven-year period in the First Highway Division where the Bonner Bridge is located. 

This is a classic example of an unreasonable and unfeasible alternative that should have been eliminated from consideration early in the planning process.  However, because of the significant impacts to the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge from the early parallel bridge replacement options, the Pamlico Sound bridge alternative was advanced in 2003. If approved, it would have been a project that could never have been built.

The phased approach would guarantee continued access to the Pea Island Refuge, with many fewer environmental impacts when compared to the previous parallel bridge options and the Pamlico Sound bridge alternative.  In fact, the phased approach would have no new impacts to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge since it stays within the existing easement.  It has no impacts to the aquatic habitat areas of particular concern in the Pamlico Sound, as compared to the eight miles of dredging required for the longer bridge alternative.  The phased approach would also continue to provide more reliable access to Pea Island by citizens and visitors to the area than the “jitney” service proposed by the refuge manager.  This alternative uses no new right-of-way and will replace the current Bonner Bridge and portions of Highway 12 with a series of bridges over time that will allow the costs to be spread over the next 30 years in four phases, as required by actual erosion rates of the shoreline. 

Most important, however, is the fact that this latest phased alternative is the only alternative with no new impacts to the national seashore or Pea Island, both of which qualify as protected lands under section 4(f) of the U.S. Department of Transportation Act.  That means that the phased approach with bridging at Rodanthe is the only 4(f) avoidance alternative and, therefore, the only alternative which can receive federal funds. The phased approach is also the only alternative that retains the terminal groin, which reduces the likelihood of inlet shifting or splitting, as well as the only alternative that maintains guaranteed access to Pea Island by citizens and visitors to the region.

Unless the U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service purchases the state-owned property (at the Old Coast Guard station) at the north end of Hatteras Island, road access by the NCDOT must be maintained, even if the Pamlico Sound bridge could be built within the next 20 years.  The Fish and Wildlife Service can significantly restrict right-of-way maintenance that is off Highway 12, but can not deem the right-of-way agreement that predates November, 2000, as a non-compatible use. The service can adjust the terms and conditions of the pre-existing agreement.  Therefore, maintenance of Highway 12 (at a reduced level) to the state-owned property would be required even with the Pamlico Sound alternative.

Despite all efforts to endorse the goodness of the long bridge in the Pamlico Sound, it is an alternative that guarantees that the Bonner Bridge will not be replaced -- except following catastrophic failure, under an emergency contract and where it currently stands. 

The only feasible alternative that eliminates significant new direct environmental impacts, meets the project purpose and need, and qualifies for federal funds is the phased approach.


(Jim Trogdon is the Director of Strategic and Transportation Planning for the state Senate and House of Representatives.  He has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in civil engineering from North Carolina State University and a master’s in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.  Col. Trogdon is also a member of the North Carolina Army National Guard and was most recently commander of the 105th Engineer Group. He served as Commander, Task Force Castle, Multi National Division North in Tikrit, Iraq under the 25th Infantry Division between June, 2006 and September, 2007.  This month he was promoted to Brigadier General as the Deputy Adjutant General, North Carolina National Guard. He has served at all levels within the army from platoon leader, company commander, operations officer, battalion commander, and brigade level command over the last 26 years, performing engineer missions in more than 10 countries.)