Currituck opposes span plan in Aydlett

Residents: Option B would hike traffic

By Toby Tate
Staff Writer

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

CURRITUCK — Currituck commissioners agreed this week to oppose an option for the Currituck Mid-County Bridge that state officials say would save $60 million but residents of the Aydlett community believe would disrupt their quality of life.

The Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday night for a resolution opposing “Option B” for the proposed bridge’s Aydlett interchange. The interchange plan removes most of Aydlett Road and replaces it with a new road connecting U.S. Highway 158 and the Currituck Sound. Also, toll booths for the proposed bridge would be placed on the new road.

Commissioners said they support a bridge design that keeps the current Aydlett Road and places the toll booth plaza closer to U.S. Highway 158, away from the Aydlett community.

The board adopted the resolution after nearly 30 Aydlett residents showed up at Monday’s meeting to blast the bridge design proposal.

Aydlett resident Vicky Jackson was one of those who voiced their concerns to the board. Jackson said she moved to Currituck to get away from the noise of traffic.

“All you hear in Dare County is traffic,” she said. “We want to give the beauty of Aydlett to our son and you want to take that away.”

Yvone Avery told commissioners she wants to keep Aydlett the way it is — peaceful.

“We don’t want our way of life disrupted and we don’t understand why it has to happen,” she said.

Jennifer Harris, an engineer with the North Carolina Turnpike Authority, the state agency in charge of building the mid-county bridge, said during a meeting in Currituck last week that Option B helps make the $660 million project more feasible to build.

“We’ve been studying this project for a few years and doing the engineering work under a few parameters and a few assumptions,” Harris said. “(This option) could save the project a considerable amount of money and help the project be more financially feasible as well as from a natural environment standpoint provide some improvements.”

According to Harris, Aydlett Road currently acts as a dam between two parts of Maple Swamp, preventing the swamp from being a “continuous natural feature.” If it were removed, the swamp could be more protected, she said.

The changes would also allow traffic to exit into Aydlett from the new road, a move that Aydlett residents and board members say they firmly oppose.

“The state promised no ingress or egress from Aydlett or Poplar Branch,” board Vice-Chairman Paul O’Neal said.

Chairman Owen Etheridge said he agreed with O’Neal that commissioners oppose any bridge option that increases traffic in the Aydlett community.

“It’s not about money, it’s about quality of life,” Etheridge said.

Commissioner Barry Nelms said Turnpike Authority officials know Currituck officials oppose any bridge option that would affect Aydlett residents’ quality of life. He called Option B “an appeasement to the environmentalists.”

Commissioner Vance Aydlett agreed.

“I am with you 100 percent,” he told Nelms. “There is no way in the world we would stand by and let something like this happen.”

Several Aydlett residents asked commissioners why they invited the Turnpike Authority to introduce the new proposal if they didn’t support it.

“We met with the transportation authority and asked if we could look at the proposal,” O’Neal explained. “They said it would save $60 million. We told them at the time (the proposal) wouldn’t fly; we said the board wouldn’t let it happen. No one has spoken in favor of (Option B). We will not go back on our word and we expect the state to keep theirs.”

Commissioners’ resolution also opposes placement of a barrier wall at the intersection of Waterlily Road and U.S. 158. The barrier would prevent left turns from Waterlily Road onto U.S. 158 and left turns from U.S. 158 onto Waterlily Road.

Steve Dewitt, the Turnpike Authority’s chief engineer, said his agency has already scrapped plans for changing the traffic patterns at Waterlily Road and U.S. 158.

O’Neal said the resolution opposing Option B was sent to the N.C. Department of Transportation, Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, Gov. Bev Perdue and anyone else with authority in the matter.

In an unrelated matter at Monday’s meeting, Eduardo Valdivieso, a representative of Sumit Gupta of Intercoastal Realty and Saga Construction, sought county approval for an amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance allowing his company to build up to 35 condominiums on about 14 acres of oceanfront property on Pine Island.

Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the amendment.