Changes coming to Aydlett with or without Option B

The Daily Advance

Saturday, October 31, 2009

The Issue

Currituck’s Adylett residents believe it will be disruptive to their community to include Aydlett Road as part of the approach of the proposed mid-county bridge

Our position

Aydlett can’t afford being affected by tourism growth, but using Aydlett Road can save $60 million in costs

Residents from the Currituck County community of Aydlett are resisting a state plan that would take a portion of their main access road to build an approach to the proposed mid-county bridge. Last week these residents were rewarded by the county commissioners who voted to send a resolution to the N.C. Department of Transportation opposing the so-called “Option B” recommended by the state Turnpike Authority.

The option, designed by Authority engineers, would replace most of Aydlett Road, which connects U.S. Highway 158 to the Aydlett neighborhoods, with a new road that will link U.S. 158 to the proposed bridge over Currituck Sound. Along the new road would also be constructed toll booths at which fares would be collected from motorists heading to Corolla. Option B also would make the new road the access for the Aydlett community.

But that’s not sitting well with Aydlett residents who want to save the existing Aydlett Road and not incorporate it as part of the bridge plan — apparently as a way to spare their neighborhood the impact from the project.

If only that were possible. The mid-county toll bridge project is an immense undertaking. It includes a public-private partnership to construct a 7-mile-long span that would shave hours off travel time between the mainland and the Outer Banks. Current project costs are estimated at a whopping $660 million, but engineers say $60 million can be saved by adopting Option B. That’s a 9 percent savings, which is not chicken feed when the taxpayers are picking up the tab.

In addition, engineers claim an environmental benefit would be gained by eliminating part of Aydlett Road, since it currently has a damming effect on Maple Swamp,

The cost savings alone should be reason enough to back Option B while environmental considerations make it seem even more favorable to engineers, planners and the public. Nevertheless, how the project affects the lives of residents must be considered, in particular the concerns for safety and access. And it appears that both issues would be favorably resolved under Option B.

That leaves the residents’ fixation on the belief that their community should remain unaffected by the project. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen with or without Option B. If there’s one thing that’s become certain in Currituck County in the last 25 years, it’s that tourism and tourism traffic on U.S. 158 have shaped the county and will continue to shape its future.

A good example of that is how residents currently deal with heavy tourist traffic, especially during the summer season from June to August. Just getting safely on the highway can be a challenge. Residents would probably like that to change as they would also prefer less impact in their lives from the effects of growth.

Twenty-five years ago, residents were thinking the same thing before N.C. Highway 168/N.C. 158 was widened. But along with the wider road came more tourists, then more residents and more businesses — and more county growth.

Accordingly, planning for access to the mid-county bridge is another accommodation to tourism — Currituck’s lifeblood. More people, traffic and businesses will follow the opening of the bridge on both sides of the sound, affecting residential areas — including Aydlett.

The belief that moving the bridge approach site away from their community will prevent growing pains is unrealistic — and expensive to taxpayers. The only way to prevent that is to not build the bridge or put gates up at both ends of the county and stop all the tourist traffic.