The future of transportation infrastructure in southeastern North Carolina was the topic of North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory’s visit to Wilmington Wednesday, Sept. 17.
Wilmington was the first of four stops for McCrory and N.C. Secretary of Transportation Tony Tata in the unveiling of the governor’s 25-year vision for transportation infrastructure improvements.
“We are one of the fastest growing states in the nation but on the regional level there are parts of our state that are losing population,” Tata said during the meeting at Wilmington International Airport. “The real challenge in our state is we are so diverse, both geographically and demographically, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution and in this plan we break it into four categories.”
The four categories are coastal, eastern, central and western regions. The coastal region includes New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender, Onslow, Carteret, Hyde, Dare and Currituck counties.
McCrory said one of the main issues his plan focuses on for New Hanover County is highway accessibility from the western part of the state and South Carolina.
“Especially for this area, we need to get people from Asheville to Charlotte down to Wilmington because I know for a fact that … a lot of the travel tourism from there is heading down to Hilton Head Island, Charleston or Myrtle Beach,” McCrory said. “We need to make it easier to get to Wilmington.”
In addition to better highway connectivity, McCrory said the coastal solutions include replacing aging bridges, stabilizing inlets, improving North Carolina ports, and expanding the runway and airfield lighting at Wilmington International Airport.
Funding mechanisms McCrory outlined for these transportation projects included fostering public-private partnerships and taking advantage of low-interest bond opportunities.
When the North Carolina General Assembly reconvenes in January 2015, McCrory said he would push for a $1 billion transportation bond.
“I am going to recommend we do a more than $1 billion bond and that would be money already reserved for transportation,” he said. “The department of transportation would be free to start spending that money, which would free up 21 projects that are mainly in the rural areas of our state.”
In attendance at the meeting were several local officials from New Hanover County, the City of Wilmington and the North Carolina General Assembly.
Wilmington City Councilwoman Laura Padgett said she still had questions about the plan and the exclusion of certain projects like a railway connection between Castle Hayne and Wallace, and another Cape Fear River crossing.
“I have some questions about whether or not it really helps us,” Padgett said after the presentation. “Definitely the port needs to be improved … but he didn’t mention the Wallace to Castle Hayne connection, which would be critical to the port. He really set aside the second Cape Fear crossing and that is very disturbing because we will never come up with funding locally without state and federal support.”
During the presentation, Tata said the additional Cape Fear River crossing project did not score high enough to be considered but that it could be a good candidate for a public-private partnership.
Representative Rick Catlin, R-New Hanover, said he was glad to see the coastal issues like beach renourishment and inlet maintenance were included in the 25-year vision.
“It shows they are on the list,” he said. “I have been involved with coastal issues a lot and we do not have adequate funding or the flexibility we need right now.”
Catlin also said he was pleased with the position the governor is taking on transportation infrastructure and it would be a priority for him in the general assembly next year if reelected.
“It is a very good step in the right direction,” Catlin said. “Over the years what we have not done enough of is invest in our infrastructure and it causes traffic and economic disadvantages. It is time to put it on the top of our list and I hope we can be successful.”
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