The Census Bureau tells us that the Cape Fear region grew like crazy over the past decade. But you already knew that. The housing bust may have slowed growth after 2008, but our three counties reported a population boom, increasing their number of residents by 25 percent to nearly 50 percent in that 10-year stretch. The region is now home to more than 450,000 people.
What do those numbers tell us? We have become a more urban region, and the people who live here require urban services and amenities. We also have more urban problems – among them, traffic.
That breakneck growth has gotten the attention of Gov. Beverly Perdue, who says our region’s population needs a road to handle that additional traffic sooner. She’s moving up the timetable for completion of the Wilmington bypass, one of several “loop” roads in the state that will be built ahead of schedule.
Even with the governor’s pledge to speed up construction by two years, it will be seven more years – 2018 – before the bypass is completed. Until then we can expect gridlock at peak times on the U.S. 17/74/76 causeway between Wilmington and Brunswick County.
Given the limited funds available for construction, however, Perdue’s action signals recognition that Southeastern North Carolina is an important economic region that must have thoroughfares that can handle not only local traffic but commercial and tourist traffic.
If only there were similar good news about other critical transportation needs in the Cape Fear region. As Perdue has pledged to make one project go more smoothly, Republican state Sens. Thom Goolsby and Bill Rabon have introduced a bill that would make it harder for traffic planners to preserve corridors for future roadways. The bill would permit governments to restrict development in proposed corridors for up to 18 months, half the current allowable three-year moratorium.
The bill was filed at the request of the development and real estate industry, who say the three-year window is too long. They can’t use their property during that time, and the state doesn’t have to buy it. But it does give road planners time to ensure the most logical and cost-effective route doesn’t become overrun with new homes and businesses before right-of-way purchase can begin.
The danger of passing is that roads will be far more expensive to build, or that they simply won’t be built – leaving drivers to navigate existing traffic-choked roads. It costs the state far more to buy right of way when there are homes and businesses there than if the land is vacant.
Landowners have a point that they should either be able to do something with their property or have the state pay up front for needed right of way. That would require a significant change in the way the state funds highways or in how roads are planned.
Eighteen months may seem like a long time, but it can take longer than that to do the required preparatory work. Time may run out and if it does, development may make some badly needed projects too expensive to undertake.But the senators know, as do most residents of this area, that the state must come up with a better way to pay for new roads.
With $65 billion in needs and only $10.5 billion in projected revenue over the next 25 years, our future roadways may begin to resemble the parking lot at Walmart.
Especially if we continue to experience double-digit growth.
Published: Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 5:38 p.m.
