Shaky proposition

Editorial by Greensboro News-Record, December 20, 2013.

North Carolina political leaders must have their heads in the sand if they think blame for the Outer Banks roadblock belongs to environmentalists.

It’s the environment.

To hear N.C. Transportation Secretary Tony Tata, Gov. Pat McCrory and legislative chiefs Thom Tillis and Phil Berger, one would think members of the Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill formed a human chain to prevent cars from crossing the Bonner Bridge, which spans Oregon Inlet. But it was Tata’s department that closed the bridge Dec. 3 because of safety concerns, and rightly so. Erosion around the support structure. It reopened Sunday after short-term shoring up.

Yet McCrory wrote to the environmental group, asserting it was responsible for delays in replacing the bridge and should consider itself “accountable for the impacts to the people of Hatteras Island and the taxpayers of North Carolina.” Tata called members of the group “ivory tower elitists” who “chuckle while the good people of the Outer Banks are fighting hard to scratch out a living.” Tillis and Berger issued a statement accusing the environmental organization of carrying out “a scheme to agitate the left and raise funds for an extreme, fringe agenda. ...”

What the center has done is legally challenge state plans for a parallel replacement bridge, claiming a longer bridge across Pamlico Sound makes better sense longer term. The suit did not close the Bonner Bridge or delay its replacement, which wouldn’t open until 2016.

The state itself has dragged its feet, taking little action to address a foreseeable problem. After all, the bridge was anticipated to have a lifespan of only 30 years when it was built in 1963. This isn’t the fault of McCrory, Tata, Tillis or Berger, and no one is blaming them. There’s no need for them to point fingers at anyone else.

The fact is, manmade structures simply don’t hold up well on the Outer Banks, and the thin strand of sand on the southern end of the bridge is especially fragile. Storms regularly wash out portions of the road, and erosion makes it difficult to anchor bridge supports. For many years, engineers also thought it would be wiser to replace the Bonner Bridge with a much longer span that would connect to Hatteras Island farther south, where the ground is firmer. That option now is considered too expensive, although critics contend it would be more cost-effective in the long run to construct a more durable bridge and bypass the stretch of highway that requires rebuilding so frequently.

Maybe that’s right, maybe it’s not. Forecasting the next few decades in such a harsh, constantly changing environment is hazardous. Access along the Outer Banks is important, but it can’t be counted on given the overwhelming power of wind and waves.

Our leaders who are willing to spend more than $200 million for a new Bonner Bridge right next to the endangered old are betting that it too won’t have to close in 10 years because one end is under water.