Mid-Currituck Bridge, NC

The North Carolina Turnpike Authority wants to build a seven-mile toll bridge across the Currituck Sound to the northernmost section of the Outer Banks. An outdated and unnecessary project first proposed decades ago, the Mid-Currituck Bridge has resurfaced as a public-private joint venture by the Turnpike Authority and a multinational company. It would usher in a host of ill effects, including

• further beachfront development in an area vulnerable to erosion, hurricanes, and rising sea levels and other threats likely to become more severe as a result of global climate change;
• damage to water quality and aquatic habitat in the Currituck estuary; and
• thousands more vehicles on the beaches of the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge.

The bridge would also put further stress on other nature preserves and natural heritage sites in the area that are vital not only to migratory birds and other wildlife but also to nature-related tourism.

Inadequate Analysis

In June 2010, SELC and its partners filed formal objections to the Mid-Currituck Bridge and to an inadequate draft analysis of its environmental impacts. In addition to failing to assess the project’s full ecological impacts, the analysis failed to consider more sensible and less harmful alternatives, such as improvements to existing roads and bridges or ferry service across the sound. Shallow-draft ferries now being used effectively in other coastal areas could be ideal for this location.

A Financial Burden

The environmental review by state and federal transportation agencies also gives short shrift to the burden the bridge would place on the state’s financial coffers. Tolls would be high—as much as $12 per vehicle—but would cover only a fraction of the bridge’s $700 million price tag. The net effect would be to rob funds needed for more pressing transportation needs, such as an ecologically sound replacement for the aging Bonner Bridge to Hatteras Island.

SELC is calling for transportation planners to take an honest and objective look at this ill-conceived project and to disclose its true impact on the state and its natural treasures.