Wednesday, August 19, 2026
By Kip Tabb | Outer Banks Voice on November 27, 2024
The North Carolina Turnpike Authority (NCTA) will not be receiving the $425 million federal grant for the Mid Currituck Bridge that the agency had hoped would offset the cost of the project.
On Oct. 20 of this year, the US Department of Transportation announced the awarding of the infrastructure grants that the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) had applied for. The Mid Currituck Bridge was not on that list. The North Carolina Turnpike Authority is part of NCDOT, and the transportation agency is in charge of the project.
The cost of the bridge has continued to rise significantly faster than the rate of inflation. The Voice reported in July that the price tag for the seven-mile toll project connecting mainland Currituck County with Corolla was approximately $1 billion. The latest NCDOT cost estimate is $1.139 billion.
In an email to the Voice, Logan Hodges, NCTA Director of Marketing indicated that the agency is continuing to work on the project and exploring options to make up the funding shortfall.
“The project team is continuing to advance the project, including the submission of permit applications [and] identifying other future grant opportunities,” he wrote.
In his email, Hodges pointed to a private public partnership (P3) as possible means to fund the project. NCDOT had a P3 agreement for the Mid-Currituck Bridge from 2009 until 2014 but chose not to renew the agreement when it expired after five years.
“The P3 market has evolved over the last 10 years, and the number of private developers has also grown. NCDOT has heard from a number of developers that are interested in delivering this project,” he wrote.
Kym Meyer, Litigation Director for the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), pointed out that any P3 agreement will probably be based on toll revenues—and those revenues were already earmarked for debt service.
“Toll revenue was already assumed to be a large part of funding when the $425 million was assumed. I’m not sure how much more they can get out of a P3 agreement,” she said.
Outgoing Chair of the Currituck County Board of Commissioners Bob White does not see the failure of NCDOT to get the grant as a major hurdle.
“That was something they were hoping for, but it’s not necessarily necessary that they have it,” he told the Voice. “It was a way to help cut down what they’re going have to borrow, basically.”
For regional policy leaders, the next steps for funding the project are unclear. “(It’s) still too early in the process. I have literally no answers,” State Senator Bobby Hanig told the Voice.
David Whitmer, Executive Director of the Albemarle Regional Planning Organization (ARPO) said much the same thing, telling the Voice that there “would probably be an update on this” at the January 2025 meeting of the ARPO.
And, he added, any update would have to wait until NCDOT indicated what their next steps will be. “We have to get a NCDOT designation or clarification, because that’s who controls that [project],” he said.
The growing cost of the project may create an additional hurdle for NCDOT to cross. Meyer points to federal law that requires a project to show it is the Least Environmentally Damaging Practicable Alternative (LEDPA). Other proposals to alleviate the traffic woes, including a flyover at the NC12/US158 intersection in Kitty Hawk and improvements to NC12, may now be less expensive and may cause less environmental damage.
Nor is litigation completely off the table. Although federal courts earlier this year ruled for NCDOT and against the SELC in finding that the agency had followed the law in issuing their Record of Decision for the bridge, Meyer indicated the SELC will be following the environmental permitting that is necessary before construction can begin.
For Southern Shores Town Manager Cliff Ogburn, who has been in the midst of the battle to get the bridge built in the hope it will alleviate the summer traffic woes in the town, the news that the state did not get the grant is discouraging.
“Disappointing, to say the least, for as long as this thing gone on and much planning and preparation has gone into it,” he said. “It just seems like it’s a continuous one step forward, two steps back.”
Comments
Ray
Hmmm….Here’s a new idea….A “Jug Handle” around Duck. Have a nice day. :)
WindyBill
As EnVogue said back in the 1990’s: “Never gonna get it, never get it; You’re never ever gonna get it, get it…”. So let’s analyze this, a bridge over 3 miles of unspoiled water and pristine habitat versus 6 miles of man installed landscaping. Let’s consider our options…., No let’s study this for another decade.
Ray M.
The jughandle and road widening crowd doesnt get it. None of that can handle Currituck County’s mad dash to add traffic every chance they get. The only solution that works is to split the traffic up north and not make 3/4 of it go 40 miles each out of their way to get to Corolla. Deal with the CC board’s greed before you start pitching ridiculous ideas.
Dylan
Put Jordan on the case!
Ross Kearney II
There are a few of us ‘remaining’ whom traveling from
Va. Beach with an agent for Kabler Realty in a four wheeler,
purchased a lot in the Carova before the beach travel was
halted. Discussion of a bridge began in earnest then. Ross
JUST SAYING
Lets be honest, there is absolutely no way this bridge should cost over a billion dollars… The cost is inflated simply because its been a topic for so long now and going nowhere. If we were not in such desperate need of it the price would be half that. There has probably been enough spent on studies alone to pay 25 percent of what was needed. Face it , none of us will see this bridge in our lifetime.
Level
I wish I had the answer but I do not believe that the bridge is going to be good for anyone except Duck- which is actually the cause of much of the issue. Maybe we can get Duck to solve the issue with their streets. Put in stop lights with designated crossings so that cars don’t have to keep stopping for every straggler that wants to randomly cross…raise the speed limit off of a crawl so people will actually hesistate to step infront of a moving vehicle and cross at a light…do an elevated? road way to bypass Duck completely, etc.. The only thing that the bridge would be good for is easier evaucuation in the event of a hurricane but as it is now, the officials usually give enough warning for us all to leave timely- it’s not like these things crop up fast like a tornado would. If they do decide to spend the money that they don’t have and build a bridge, they should have it off load into a desolate area, not into an established community with single family homes- that is got to be one of the worst ideas I’ve seen yet. This will only hurt the value of the land and homes in Corolla. Why the BOC of Curritcuck want this is beyond me unless they’re getting kickbacks/benefits from the bridge going in.
Steven
Level,
Duck is Not the cause of any of this..
As for the proposed bridge landing, those houses are not single family homes, they are rental houses that accommodate more than one family. No one lives there..
Mike Willis
@Steven
Duck and Southern Shores are the only ones to blame for the traffic congestions. If they were worried about traffic congestion they would raise the speed limit not lower it.
SS also installed 4 way stops along almost every intersection in the town. They said it was for safety but let the cat out of the bag during the town hall meeting. They changed it to discourage traffic from cutting thru not safety. To slow people down.
SS lowered the speed limit on Hwy 12 from 45 mph to 35 mph last year. The same as our southern beaches do in the summer months. The only catch is Duck & SS kept the 25 mph limit year round. Complete power grab. These towns whined to the state to lower the speed and then whine about traffic backing up.
Duck is only worried about seasonal tourist shopping on the boardwalk and spending money within town limits. A tale as old as time..
Steven
Mike Willis,
The problem lies with Currituck County, with access in mind, they wildly oversold and overdeveloped, now folks want to blame other towns, other counties for that!
It does not work that way..
Mike Willis
@steven
Did you know in life, two things can be true at the same time?
Ray
@mike The tale as old as time is your not liking the consequences of your actions. You actions were to overbuild. The consequence is a bridge. Duck and SS didn’t overbuild, you did.
Mike Willis
@ray
By the sound of your comment you appear to be angry over living in Duck? Did you believe the realtor when they sold you on ‘seasonal traffic”?
The bridge will never be built and the traffic will never stop. This is America my friend. If private equity wants to build ,then they build. The market is always right and market always corrects itself. Did you ever wonder why Currituck doesn’t allow for incorporation? Mainly because they don’t wanna deal with tiny little town governments who think they can can control the world. Currituck beaches are not over developed. You just thought you had some quiet retreat in SS and Duck. I’m sorry you got hoodwinked.
Steven
Apparently Mr. Mike has not been through pine island, Corolla, Carova..
And yes, Duck residents have every right to be upset..
Mike Willis
@stevie
Again you are bitter about your decision to reside in Duck. A bridge to Currituck won’t solve the traffic problem. Duck won’t resolve the issue. The town failed you and the residents.
Hwy 12 is the only lifeline to the northern beach’s. It’s been this way long before tiny little Duck and SS even existed. Blame the greedy property owners in your town for this travesty. I bet you the bridge will never be built. Duck or SS don’t even have the political pull or capital to make it happen. Trust me
Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice
With this comment, I am calling an end to this debate. I think we’ve exhausted it.
Mack Pierce
North Carolina better be wiser and take all the money available and look at Pea Island and Saving Hatteras Island and Ocracoke. These are really big tourist areas that keeps our North Eastern economy going, Stop trying to fix what isn’t broken yet,,,,Corolla..