
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994                    TAG: 9406090511 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: D1    EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA  
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940609                                 LENGTH: Medium

CURRITUCK TOLL BRIDGE PLAN OK'D BY HOUSE PANEL

{LEAD} A proposal that could lead to the state's first toll bridge - across Currituck Sound in northeastern North Carolina - passed its first hurdle in the House Wednesday after intensive lobbying from northeastern North Carolina legislators.

A House transportation committee unanimously approved a bill creating a North Carolina Bridge Authority and calling for the construction of a $39 million bridge to link the Currituck County mainland with Corolla and northern Currituck County beach communities.

{REST} The bill now goes to the House Finance Committee where it could be debated as early as next week, House members said.

The approval by the committee represents a major step forward for the bill, which was approved by the Senate last year but stalled in the House during the later part of the session, said Rep. Charles L. McLawhorn, D-Pitt, chairman of the committee.

Currently, visitors from Chesapeake must follow a long horseshoe route south through the Currituck County mainland, east across the Wright Memorial Bridge into Dare County and north on two-lane N.C. 12 about 25 miles through Duck to reach resort areas around Corolla.

A new bridge would allow travelers to cross Currituck Sound directly to Corolla from a site on the mainland and, its supporters say, speed evacuation of the Outer Banks in emergencies.

Supporters of the proposal say the bridge will also serve as a model for a future toll bridge or road construction in the state.

``This particular bridge is a unique situation with respect to the number of out-of-state users,'' said Rep. William T. Culpepper III, D-Chowan. ``If we're going to experiment with tolls, this would be the perfect area to experiment with.''

Although tolls have been widely used in some states, no tolls are currently levied on North Carolina's public highways and bridges. Only the state's ferry service, which charges fees on some of the longer ferry routes in coastal North Carolina, levies a charge for travelers, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Rep. Vernon G. James, D-Pasquotank, said Wednesday, ``I think we're at the point where the people who use the roads ought to pay for them.''

During the last two weeks, James and other members of the area's legislative delegation had lobbied committee members intensely for the proposal. And earlier this year, James arranged a meeting of backers of the bill from Currituck County who pressed their support of the bill to a group of House leaders.

The bill received a boost earlier this week when it was endorsed by Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. and Transportation Secretary Sam Hunt, James said.

Backers of the bill said that by building a toll bridge in Currituck County, the state could speed construction of the project by paying for most of its construction with tolls and without delaying other area construction projects included in the state's Transportation Improvement Plan.

If North Carolina pays for the project under its current system of distributing funds for new projects, the bridge would not be built until 2010. But the bridge could be built by the year 2000 if it is constructed as a toll bridge, according to local officials.

The bill calls for a study to be completed by mid-1995 by a legislative panel, the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Transportation, on the best ways to fund the bridge.

by CNB