DATE: Saturday, May 3, 1997                 TAG: 9705030443

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   51 lines

SENATE BILL COULD SPUR CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE PROPOSAL WOULD ESTABLISH STATE BANK WHICH COULD ALLOCATE FEDERAL HIGHWAY FUNDS TO TOWNS AND TOLL AUTHORITIES HANDLING LOCAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS.

A state Senate bill, now in the House of Representatives, could spur construction of the midcounty bridge in Currituck County.

Senate Bill 884 would allow the state Department of Transportation to establish a State Infrastructure Bank, comprising federal highway funds.

Towns and toll authorities could then apply to borrow money for federally eligible transportation projects, including local highways and bridges.

The bill now is before the House Transportation Committee.

Funds from the Infrastructure Bank could be used to help finance a midcounty bridge between the Currituck mainland and Corolla, according to Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare.

North Carolina hopes to win a grant of $150 million in federal pilot funds this year. A portion of that money, if awarded, may be loaned to the North Carolina Bridge Authority to begin the Currituck bridge.

``This bill should allow our state to take advantage of a great resource and prove to the country that this pilot project works,'' Basnight said in a recent news release.

Local officials also are excited by the possibilities.

``I think this gives us an additional funding opportunity for the bridge, and anything that will move this critically needed project forward is greatly welcomed,'' Currituck County Manager Bill Richardson said this week.

The $50 million to $71 million toll-bridge across the 5-mile-wide Currituck Sound would improve travel time and evacuations from Currituck to the northern Outer Banks.

The bridge's mainland terminus is likely to be in the Waterlily, Aydlett or Poplar Branch area. The span will empty at Corolla, a growing community now served by winding, two-lane N.C. 12.

The new bridge also should open up more jobs for mainland residents, who must now commute up to two hours to work on the beach.

Proponents believe the bridge will create more cohesion and sense of community between Corolla and mainland Currituck, now separated by the sound and a section of Dare County.

But not everyone is happy with the project.

At two previous public forums, residents on both sides of the sound expressed concern that increased traffic would reduce the quality of life.

Beach residents worried the bridge would bring more people and problems. Mainland residents do not want their rural setting disturbed by concrete and constant traffic.

Right-of-way acquisition for the bridge is scheduled to be done in two years, and construction could begin in 2001. KEYWORDS: ROAD CONSTRUCTION

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