Wednesday, July 29th at the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization

 

RE: Cape Fear Memorial Bridge Public Meeting

A recent local news report (on WECT 6*) stated that the WMPO Board will be meeting on Wednesday at 3 pm, at which time a reported “$1 billion” bridge proposal will be considered.

 

Per the WECT 6 report, the proposal of the “private company” would be tall enough to permit the passage of “cargo ships” and be “financed by a toll.”

 

1.  There is no need for “cargo ships” to be able to pass further upstream than the current Wilmington port, which is below (south of) the current Memorial Bridge, nor would it be desirable for wakes caused by large cargo ships to damage or wash over Wilmington’s signature “Riverwalk,” should a future mega-bridge allow large or heavily laden ships to pass by Wilmington city;

&

2.  Citizens on both sides of the river oppose the very idea of a toll, not least if - as reliably reported - tolls would be collected by the “private company” long after the costs of bridge-building are recouped.

 

Results of this meeting?

a) The unsolicited bid will not go forward.

b)  Nobody spoke in favor of the 135-ft high bridge option; several people denounced it directly or asked for consideration of "other options".

c)  Most of the 14 speakers denounced the paying of tolls --- saying, e.g., that downtown businesses would suffer, and/or that it was an "unfair tax" on people who have to commute to work (& words to that effect).

d) Similarly, many speakers called on officials to find other ways of funding a new bridge.

e) Several speakers addressed problems with the scope of the area subject to, and/or criteria that seem lie behind, the "determination" that a 135-ft. high bridge should (probably) be built;  these problems did or could include: insufficient environmental impact studies; the definition / revision of "channel" or "harbor" area [linked, in turn, to:  Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. §408), perhaps]; the economics / funding of the mega-bridge project [in terms of winners, losers, conflicts of interest, etc..]