After years of delays, missteps and lawsuits, the Mid Currituck Bridge project appears to be finally moving toward fruition. Although there is no firm date to begin construction, with the bidding process due to begin next year, it is possible that the first steps to build what is now estimated to be a $1 billion project could occur in 2026.
‘All wheels up at this point,” State Representative Bobby Hanig said. “Everything’s been litigated, appealed, repealed, sliced and diced. So we’re full steam ahead.”
The last legal obstacle to the project was hurdled in February 2023 when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rejected the Southern Environmental Law Center’s (SELC) petition for a rehearing of its case challenging the need for the Mid Currituck Bridge. At that time, the SELC indicated it would not appeal to the US Supreme Court, their last legal option.
When construction will start and when the bridge will open to traffic are still listed as To Be Determined. Hanig, however, is more optimistic. “It’ll be put out for bid in ’25 and construction summer of 26,” he said.
Excerpts taken from Kip Tabb’s article in the Outer Banks Voice on July 25,2024
