Cooperation is the key if the Cape Fear region is to score funding for major transportation projects, Wilmington City Councilwoman Laura Padgett told the board that oversees local transit planning Wednesday.
“We cannot have (roads and other transportation) if we plan one city or town at a time,” said Padgett, who chairs the local Transportation Advisory Committee. “Our job is to move traffic through the region.”
Regional officials have seen that the result of disputes over projects and corridor locations is that roads don’t get built or are greatly delayed, she said. The board develops long-range transportation plans for the region But its members represent individual cities, towns and unincorporated areas in New Hanover, Pender and northern Brunswick counties, which often have competing priorities.
A recent example is the plan for a new bridge across the Cape Fear River, which has been delayed by cost and a disagreement over its path. Wednesday a proposal to keep the project alive by spending $100,000 on an environmental impact study the state was about to abandon drew questions from Leland Councilwoman Pat Batleman. She wondered whether it would be wiser to seek a more southern crossing, given that the developer of Brunswick Forest has plans to build 10,000 to 15,000 homes.
The Leland Town Council has objected to bridge routes that would displace resident and take land targeted for development. Although the TAC eventually agreed to fund the study because it would take into account at least 12 possible routes, the issue led to a debate between New Hanover County Commissioners Chairman Jonathan Barfield and Padgett over board procedure.
That’s when her comment about cooperation came out. However, it led to a discussion of how projects are decided and why municipalities with representation on the board nevertheless often push back against TAC decisions. When local communities are not united in support of a project, the state Department of Transportation often awards sought-after dollars to areas that present a more unified front.
New Hanover Commissioner Skip Watkins suggested the problem may be the board’s structure itself, as well as timing. “I propose that the makeup of this board is not functional,” he said. “We are not going to get a unified agreement.”
With 13 members, the board is large. Now Rep. Frank Iler,, R-Brunswick, has been pushing to allow Southport and other southern towns in his county to join what will soon be known as the Greater Wilmington Transportation Planning Organization. (It is now the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the TAC is its decision-making body.)
Also, Batleman has proposed that towns with more than 25,000 residents two members on the transportation committee, as opposed to one. Currently Wilmington, with more than 100,000 residents, is the only municipality with two representatives.
With so many different communities represented, Watkins said it is important to get information to the regional governing boards quickly to allow plenty of time for discussion before the transportation committee makes significant decisions. He said he doesn’t want to make a decision that doesn’t represent the wishes of the New Hanover commissioners, and that anything that can help lead to a consensus would be an improvement.
email Tricia Vance at [email protected].
