Description

TIP Project R-4467 involves improvements along US 17 Business/NC 37 from the South end of the Perquimans River bridge to the intersection of US 17 Business and NC 37 in Winfall, a distance of approximately 0.4 mile. The purpose of the project is to correct differential settlement issues along the causeway, to upgrade the road to current standards and to replace Bridge No. 8.

News and Updates

NCDOT held a third Citizens Informational Workshop on August 13, 2012. For a copy of the handout distributed at the workshop, click on the link below.

• Citizens Informational Workshop #3 Handout

At the workshop, a total of seven alternatives were presented. These include two alternatives on the existing alignment (a new bridge and rehabilitation of the existing bridge) and five alternatives partially on new location. Two of these alternatives were new since the 2011 workshop:

• Alternative B Swing Span Bridge – a new swing span at approximately the same height as the existing swing span bridge, including a decorative truss with a style similar to the existing historic truss bridge.
• Alternative B 15’ Swing Span Bridge – a new swing span with a clearance of 15’, which would allow 75 percent of current boaters to pass underneath the bridge without waiting for it to be opened.

Following the August 2012 workshop, the following three alternatives were selected to be analyzed in the environmental document. A preferred alternative will be selected after the public hearing next year.

• Alternative B 15’ Swing Span Bridge
• Alternative D-Mod 33’ Fixed Span Bridge
• Alternative E 33’ Fixed Span Bridge

Detailed Study Alternatives Map

It has been determined that rehabilitating the existing swing-span bridge is not practical nor safe. A bridge rail would have to be added to the bridge to meet current safety standards. The existing bridge is too narrow to add the rail and still maintain two lanes of traffic. Therefore, if rehabilitated, the bridge would have to be converted to one-way traffic. Opposing traffic would be routed along the US 17 Bypass.

Newsletters and Postcards

• Newsletter #1 (July 2008)
• Newsletter #2 (May 2009)
• Postcard #1 (March 2010)
• Newsletter #3 (May 2011)
• Newsletter #4 (August 2012)

Next Steps

NCDOT is currently preparing the preliminary environmental document, which will be completed in early2013. A public hearing will be held in the spring of 2013, after which a preferred alternative will be selected.

Project Overview and Purpose

The purpose of this project is to continue to provide a direct, reliable route between downtown Hertford and the town of Winfall. The current route is experiencing significant deterioration and ongoing maintenance problems, jeopardizing its ability to provide reliable direct connectivity.

The existing swing-span bridge was built in 1929, and has a sufficiency rating of 1 out of a possible 100. A sufficiency rating of 1 does not indicate the bridge is unsafe because it evaluates the bridge in the un-shored condition, but does qualify it to be repaired or replaced under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968. The bridge costs approximately $60,000 a year to maintain, and was temporarily shored with steel crutch bents in 2007 and concrete jackets in 2008.

The causeway north of the bridge has been damaged by settling of the earth under the road. The causeway has been closed several times in the past few years. In each case, the failure resulted in the roadway collapsing, requiring the causeway to be closed for several weeks each time for repair. NCDOT has spent approximately $1,275,000 in the past five years on repairs to the causeway.

Project Highlights

Public Involvement

Public Involvement is an important part of the project development process. NCDOT encourages citizen involvement with transportation projects and will consider public suggestions and address their concerns. NCDOT has reached out to the public through newsletters and postcards (see above), two meetings with small groups, and Citizens Informational Workshops in April 2010, June 2011 and August 2012.

To add your name to the project mailing list, please Contact Us.

Project Development Process

The US 17 Business/NC 37 Improvements Project uses federal funds. Any agency that proposes a project involving federal funds must comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA is a law that requires federally funded projects to consider the environmental impacts of their proposals. A major part of the NEPA process is the preparation of an environmental document. An environmental assessment (EA) will be prepared for this project.

This project is following the NEPA/Section 404 Merger Process. The merger process combines portions of the Section 404 (of the Clean Water Act) permitting process with the NEPA decision making process. The merger process is a formalized agency participation program that streamlines the development of a project. A merger team, consisting of NCDOT, the Federal Highway Administration, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the NC Division of Water Quality and other federal and state agencies will make decisions as a group and reach agreement on key aspects of the project. Click here for additional information on the merger process.

Alternatives Development Process

As part of the NEPA process, the project team carefully considers potential alternatives. Alternatives are compared based on quantitative and qualitative analysis, public input, and agency input. For this project, NCDOT has screened a combination of six bridge types on seven alignments. These were narrowed down to nine concepts to present to the public in April 2010.

Following the April 2010 Citizens Informational Workshop and a Merger Process meeting in October 2010, five alternatives were selected for more detailed study and were presented at the June 2011 Citizens Informational Workshop. An additional two alternatives were presented at the August 2012 Citizens Informational Workshop. The seven remaining alternatives are shown in the most recent newsletter.

Following the August 2012 workshop, NCDOT and the merger team chose the following three alternatives to be analyzed in the environmental document. A preferred alternative will be selected after the public hearing next year.

• Alternative B 15’ Swing Span Bridge
• Alternative D-Mod 33’ Fixed Span Bridge
• Alternative E 33’ Fixed Span Bridge

Detailed Study Alternatives Map

Contact Information

Resources for Local Property Owners

In many cases, it is inevitable that a certain amount of private property must be acquired. The displacement of homes and businesses is minimized to the extent practicable. The following brochures will answer questions about this process.