WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization voted Wednesday afternoon on whether or not to study a toll option for the replacement of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge.
The organization voted eight to five to approve the resolution, “requesting a modification to the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s prioritization project submittal to provide evaluation of a toll option for the Cape Fear memorial Bridge.”
The decision comes two days after protesters rallied Monday evening to oppose a toll option. Earlier this month, Wilmington City Council and New Hanover County Commissioners voted to pass resolutions opposing the use of tolls.
It was standing room only at the meeting. Before it began, 46 people signed up for public comment. The board voted to extend the time that’s typically allotted for public comment from 15 minutes to 30 minutes with the option to extend. About a dozen people spoke before time ran out and board chair Hank Miller asked if anyone had anything different to add than what had already been presented by the people who had already spoken. Three more people lined up to share their thoughts.
Kicking off the public comment were members or people associated with the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce who were largely in favor of the resolution, but not the implementation of a toll.
“We must work within the NCDOT prioritization process to ensure the bridge scores higher in that process. The projects with the highest scores are then selected for funding and scheduling. Projects with some level of consideration for alternative funding tend to score higher,” said Natalie English, Wilmington Chamber of Commerce CEO.
Several residents from Leland spoke against the resolution to examine the toll option.
“Can you promise that if you agree to evaluate a toll option you will vote against a toll in the final proposal?” said Joanne Levitan, Leland resident.
Mike Allen (Belville), John Ellen (Kure Beach), Lynn Barbee (Carolina Beach), Wendy Fletcher-Hardee (Pender County), Bill Rivenbark (New Hanover County), Hank Miller (Wrightsville Beach), Mike Forte (Brunswick County), and Landon Zimmer (NCDOT) voted in favor of the resolution.
“No one’s coming to save us here. We’re going to have to save ourselves. By doing that we’re going to have to vote to keep our options open and open ourselves up to this federal funding that we will not otherwise get. If we vote no, it’s over we’re done,” said Landon Zimmer.
Bill Saffo (Wilmington), Johnathan Barfield (New Hanover County), Brenda Bozeman (Leland), Luke Waddell (Wilmington), and Eulis Willis (Navassa) voted in opposition.
“I’m certainly disappointed in the outcome, but we did what good boards do. We had respectful disagreements and debates over a really important topic for our region. I think this is the most people I’ve ever seen because the public is certainly engaged,” said Luke Waddell. “I have full faith in our state delegation and the NCDOT to do everything they can to listen to the folks that were all around that table and the community said say ‘we don’t support tolls’ and to do everything in their power to make sure that we don’t see one when the replacement does come.”
The vote to explore the toll option is not a guarantee the board will ultimately vote to create a toll bridge. Waddell explains the goal of adding the toll option to the proposal will hopefully get the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge to the top of the priority funding list.
“What we’re being told — it opens up the criteria and makes it look more favorable to obtain federal funding from some large grants that could move the needle to funding a replacement of the bridge,” said Waddell.
Shelley Allen, chair of the Brunswick County Democratic Party, criticized the decision in a statement released shortly after:
“For a majority of local officials to voluntarily say to the state ‘Sure, good, go ahead and tax us, the users of this bridge, with a toll to pay for it,’ is outrageous. We have talked with a lot of bridge users recently, and we would be hard pressed to remember anyone who said: ‘Sure, go ahead, toll me to cross the bridge.'”
The federal grant process closes at the end of March. Waddell anticipates the WMPO will hear how the bridge scored in the grant process sometime after that.