Environmental groups represented by the Southern Law Center dropped lawsuits against the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), which aimed to stop construction of a replacement bridge parallel to the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge.
The 52-year-old bridge carries N.C. 12 over the Oregon Inlet and is the only highway connection between Hatteras Island and mainland North Carolina.
The dropping of lawsuits allows NCDOT to move ahead with the replacement project, which was put on hold in 2011 when the lawsuits were filed.
The conservation groups argued in state and federal lawsuits filed against NCDOT that the continued construction would harm migratory birds and nesting sea turtles that inhabit the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge.
The groups also feared that NCDOT’s original plan to replace the Bonner Bridge and to rebuild two nearby portions of N.C. 12 would not sufficiently protect the highway from severe storms.
Under the terms of the settlement, NCDOT was allowed to build a new parallel bridge alongside the Bonner Bridge. However, NCDOT agreed to cease work on a 2.4-mile bridge within the southern half of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and into Pamlico Sound. NCDOT, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Federal Highway Administration also agreed to study ways to move portions of N.C. 12 out of the wildlife refuge.
With the final dismissals, NCDOT and the contractor expect to complete final design and preconstruction work in time to begin building the new bridge in Spring of 2016.
