BRADENTON, Fla. - A federal appellate court Thursday ruled that North Carolina's plan to build a new bridge in the Outer Banks next to the deteriorating 50-year-old Bonner Bridge must be reconsidered by a lower court.
Both sides in the legal battle over the bridge replacement plan claimed they'd largely won when the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision.
The court ruled, in part, that the North Carolina Department of Transportation complied with the National Environmental Policy Act in its environmental studies of replacement alternatives.
"The citizens and visitors of North Carolina appreciate the Fourth Circuit's thorough opinion that affirms the district court's summary judgment upholding NCDOT's NEPA permit," NCDOT Secretary Tony Tata said in a statement. "As we review and determine the best way to proceed on other elements of the ruling, which may further delay the project, we are encouraged that our state is one step closer to replacing the Bonner Bridge."
The appellate court also determined that the case must return to the lower court for further determination as to whether the project was properly reviewed under federal regulations that govern the construction of transportation projects in parks, refuges and historic sites.
At issue is the state's plan to build a $216 million, 2.7-mile bridge across Oregon Inlet connecting the northern Outer Banks to Hatteras Island along NC 12, a state highway, which goes through Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. The new bridge essentially would be built alongside the existing Bonner bridge.
The route is unreliable because portions of NC 12 are vulnerable to high tides and storms, which have caused wash-outs on a number of occasions, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center, which filed the suit challenging the bridge replacement on behalf of the Defenders of Wildlife and the National Wildlife Refuge Association.
The groups welcomed Thursday's court ruling.
"After decades of NCDOT's single-minded determination to keep throwing taxpayer money into the sea along with NC 12 as it washes into the ocean, the court's ruling gives NCDOT an opportunity to get things right and provide a safe, reliable route that will serve the state for the next 50 years," said SELC attorney Julie Youngman.
Conservationists have said they want the state to consider what they call "safer bridge replacement alternatives," including a high-speed shallow draft ferry system or a longer bridge that traverses Pamlico Sound to the village of Rodanthe, bypassing the unstable part of the island and the wildlife refuge.
"Despite all the back and forth and legal wrangling, the fact remains that the Pamlico Sound bridge option we advocate for is better and more cost-effective," said Mike Senatore, director of conservation law at Defenders of Wildlife. "It insulates the community from the ongoing costs of rebuilding NC 12 after reoccurring storms while also protecting the area's natural heritage."
NCDOT, however, has said that the longer, 17-mile-long bridge supported by conservationists could cost as must as $1.15 billion. The state did not say how it determined the cost estimate, or if the alternate route was ever considered in its studies. SELC said the state at one time estimated the cost between $569 million and $629 million.
The state's position has been that the longer bridge is not a financially viable option, and it is not the most efficient way to accomplish the project.
In August 2011, NCDOT awarded a $215.8 million contract to PCL Civil Constructors Inc. to design and construct a new bridge. Construction of the new bridge was originally to begin in early 2013 but has been delayed by legal challenges.
NCDOT, state attorneys and the Federal Highway Administration are reviewing the project, they said.
The transportation department is also working with the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources to resolve a petition filed by SELC challenging the state's issuance of a Coastal Area Management Act permit. A hearing before the Office of Administrative Courts is currently scheduled for October.
