THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 11, 1995 TAG: 9504110356
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COROLLA LENGTH: Long : 121 lines
Should a new bridge to the northern Outer Banks begin near mainland villages or cut through Maple Swamp?
Should the span end at a Corolla shopping center or at a proposed housing development?
Should a midcounty bridge connect Currituck County's mainland with its Outer Banks beaches at all?
These are just some of the questions officials want to get input on tonight and Wednesday during two informational workshops planned for the public.
``There are trade-offs people will have to consider, between disturbing communities or natural resources,'' John Page said Monday. An executive with Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas Inc., Page is managing midcounty bridge research for the North Carolina Department of Transportation. His firm is sponsoring this week's workshops.
``You can't add a bridge to an area and not have impact,'' Page said from his Raleigh office. ``We're trying to determine what type of impact people would prefer.''
Public officials have been planning a second bridge to the Outer Banks for more than three years. A new span across the Currituck Sound would cut more than 90 minutes off road trips from Hampton Roads to Corolla. Instead of swinging all the way south through Point Harbor and across the current bridge - then all the way north through Southern Shores and Duck - travelers would have a straight shot from Currituck County's mainland to Currituck County's northern Outer Banks beaches.
During the first public meetings in August, citizens looked at three alternative locations for the mainland end of the bridge and one primary choice for the Outer Banks side. Tonight, people will get to consider six separate mainland locations and three possible sites for the beach end of the bridge.
Mainland approaches to the span also have changed in the past eight months. Instead of widening existing roads to connect the new bridge with U.S. 158, planners now hope to construct a new, two-lane road leading just to the midcounty bridge. Existing roads will be bypassed with elevated highways so that the bridge traffic will not increase impacts on local roads.
By 2020, transportation officials said an estimated 11,800 vehicles will cross the bridge each day. In summer months, that number is projected to jump to 15,800 cars. About 300 people live on Currituck County's Outer Banks year-round. On summer weekends, 25,000 visit the 15-mile stretch of sand.
Options for the bridge terminus are almost five miles apart on the mainland side and separated by an equal distance on the Outer Banks end. Cost projections range from $49.3 million to $71.3 million. Proposals include:
Mainland end near State Route 1142, at Coinjock; beach end on vacant land at the north end of Monteray Shores; $71.3 million.
Mainland end at the base of a new two-lane road through Maple Swamp; beach end on vacant land at the north end of Monteray Shores; $54.2 million.
Mainland end in Aydlett, near the underwater power line; beach end on vacant land at the north end of Monteray Shores; $49.6 million.
Mainland end in Aydlett, near the underwater power line; beach end across from Corolla Food Lion; $53.4 million.
Mainland end near State Route 1140, at Aydlett; beach end on vacant land at the north end of Monteray Shores; $51.7 million.
Mainland end near State Route 1140, at Aydlett; beach end across from Corolla Food Lion; $52.5 million.
Mainland end between Aydlett and Poplar Branch, through Maple Swamp; beach end on vacant land at the north end of Monteray Shores; $51.6 million.
Mainland end between Aydlett and Poplar Branch, through Maple Swamp; beach end across from Corolla Food Lion; $52.4 million.
Mainland end near N.C. Route 3 at Poplar Branch; beach end at Currituck Shooting Club; $49.3 million.
``Our concern is fragmenting Maple Swamp if we have to build a road through there. But we also wanted to give options bypassing the communities of Waterlily, Aydlett and Poplar Branch,'' Page said. ``We want to bring people into this process early so we can adjust our own plans, according to what we hear from the public.''
Impact of the bridge will vary greatly, depending on where it's put. According to a pamphlet prepared for tonight's meeting, transportation officials will have to fill between 20 and 51 acres of wetlands; displace up to five mainland homes; and impact as many as 42 vacant lots on the northern Outer Banks.
Last year, legislators passed a law enabling them to charge a toll on new bridges to finance construction. The midcounty bridge was the impetus for that bill. Suggested toll amounts range from $1 to $10 per car. Design is expected to begin in 1997. Construction probably won't start until after 2001.
Besides evaluating the bridge options, Page and his co-workers also have looked at other ways for improving access from Currituck County's mainland to the northern Outer Banks. If a midcounty bridge is not constructed, the planners said, the Wright Memorial Bridge will have to be widened to six lanes to accommodate the expected increase in traffic; N.C. Route 12 will have to be widened to five lanes north of Southern Shores; and U.S. Route 158 will have to be widened to six lanes south of Waterlily.
A state ferry connecting Currituck County to Corolla would cost $26.8 million to construct and $4.2 million to operate. It could carry 2,100 vehicles across the sound each day.
``The next part of the plan is narrowing down these options,'' Page said. ``That's what we need public input on now.'' ILLUSTRATION: BRIDGE PLANS
Officials planning a new bridge from the Currituck County mainland
to the northern Outer Banks want public input on where the span
should be located. They are holding informational workshops to
explain location options tonight and Wednesday. The free sessions
will give people an opportunity to look at color maps depicting the
proposed locations, discuss concerns and ask questions about the
mid-county bridge.
The 4-mile span across the Currituck Sound would cut 90 minutes off
driving time from Hampton Roads to the northern Outer Banks
beaches.
Informational workshops will be held from 5-8 p.m. tonight at the
Currituck County Satellite Office in Corolla and from 5-8 p.m.
Wednesday at G.T. Griggs Elementary School library in Poplar
Branch.
For more information, call the toll-free bridge hotline
1-800-961-LINK.
If you cannot attend a workshop, but would like to offer comments
about the proposed bridge, send them to: John Page, Project Manager,
Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, Inc., 4000 West Chase Blvd.,
Suite 250, Raleigh, N.C. 27607.
by CNB