There is no denying what is on the horizon. Our area must address a pivotal infrastructure challenge: the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge (CFMB), a 55-year-old steel vertical-lift bridge, needs to be replaced in order to accommodate the region’s rapidly growing transportation demands.

While the bridge remains structurally sound, it requires frequent maintenance, resulting in significant costs to taxpayers in both repair expenditures and traffic delays.

To ignore this looming infrastructure crisis is to court disaster: Short-term maintenance costs have expanded into tens of millions of dollars – and will soon carry a price tag of hundreds of millions of dollars – and the bridge’s capacity creates current and future safety risks, especially during storms when evacuation routes must be able to handle the traffic needs of our community quickly and efficiently. Simply put, doing nothing is not an option; however, doing something – thoughtfully and effectively – offers a generational opportunity to connect our coastal communities, boost the economic activity of Wilmington’s port and help secure Southeastern North Carolina’s future.

As of now, a new bridge is estimated to cost $1.1 billion. We have already secured $327 million – $85 million from state funding and $242 million from federal funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill’s “Large Bridge” program. While the price of the new bridge is only an estimate, there is a roughly $750 million question looming: Where will the remaining amount of funding come from?
 

WHAT OPTIONS DO WE HAVE?

Such a large funding gap for such a critically important project requires an honest conversation about finances and an openness to embracing alternate revenue sources. Rest assured, other communities, like Raleigh and Charlotte, are currently wrestling with similar infrastructure needs and how to fund them. Current options that other areas of the state have used to fund finance gaps or are currently exploring include the following:

1. Penny Sales Tax Option. A penny sales tax is basically what it sounds like: It would allow for 1 cent per dollar of sales in the county – minus groceries – to go towards county infrastructure projects, like the CFMB replacement. This measure would require countywide ballot approval by the citizens during a general election vote. This option is desirable for larger cities because it is an efficient way to help pay for infrastructure for a full-time population that also supports temporary populations, like tourists and college students.

Population is a meaningful data point that is used in North Carolina’s data-based calculations upon which projects get funded. Therefore, when these “shadow” populations that of course, use the community’s transportation infrastructure, are not comprehensively captured, full-time residents end up subsidizing the infrastructure costs of the area in a disproportionate way, to the disproportionately large number of tourists and students in the area. The penny sales tax would ensure that part-time residents help shoulder the burden of infrastructure projects that are used by all.

A recent study received by the Wilmington Metro Planning Organization showed that a penny sales tax would provide $123 million in 2025 for infrastructure projects in the area – $11.2 million from Pender County, $72 million from New Hanover County and $40 million from Brunswick County – and $7.2 billion for infrastructure projects over 25 years, including inflation and growth. The study reviewed other states and their funding mechanisms, in addition to a multitude of other potential funding mechanisms for our area. This penny sales tax option proved to be only one of two that meaningfully filled the gap in terms of revenue generation for infrastructure projects. The other is No. 2 below.

2. Tolling Option. Tolling is not a popular option by any means, but some consider it the fairest option in terms of usage – i.e., those who use the bridge the most will pay for it the most. Certainly, there are concerns about ensuring prices remain as low as possible to accommodate all of our citizens, while also making sure riders have other available non-toll options – i.e., the Isabel Holmes Bridge and Interstate 140.

A toll option would likely land in the $3 or $4 toll fee range per vehicle and be built by the N.C. Turnpike Authority (NCTA), where the state sells bonds, and tolling pays off these bonds, and where the NCDOT builds the project. The NCTA offers a 50% discount for E-ZPass, which would cut the toll fee per vehicle to $1.50 or $2, which would certainly help, but is still not optimal. Note that most individuals who plan to use the toll frequently would likely go with the E-ZPass option, and more visitors or tourists would likely not.

A toll version of the CFMB could also be built by a private entity if one comes up with a “better” proposal. Since a private entity can forecast 50 years, whereas the turnpike only forecasts 30 years, a private option would allow for more time to pay off the project, thus reducing the toll price. A private company could also provide more flexible options unavailable to the turnpike, such as lower tolls for lower-income individuals.
 

IN CONCLUSION

Ideally, traditional funding mechanisms from our local, state and federal partners would be sufficient to fully cover the cost of the new CFMB. Unfortunately, that is not a realistic expectation. Escalating construction costs, combined with declining NCDOT revenues, mean fewer transportation projects are being approved and completed across the state. To move forward, we must continue to pursue innovative financing strategies that will allow us to build the infrastructure needed to sustain our region’s growth.

A Wilmington-based attorney, Landon Zimmer is a member of the N.C. Board of Transportation and sits on the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s board.