Nov 22, 2007 - With the land transfer tax squashed and the need for road relief at an all-time high in Brunswick County, commissioners passed a resolution Monday to support a private developer’s proposal to fund a four-lane highway linking Long Beach Road near N.C. 211 with N.C. 87 north of Southport.
The project is particularly attractive to county commissioners when set next to the alternative: waiting for the N.C. Department of Transportation (DOT) to construct its planned two-lane, 1.7-mile version of the N.C. 211-N.C. 133 connector closer to Southport, which local officials are worried will take longer to build and won’t accommodate the increasing roadway squeeze in the Southport-Oak Island Area.
Tri-City Inc. representative Gene Conti, a former DOT deputy director who presented the private project to commissioners at their meeting Monday, says his is a road he could kick off and finish sooner, better avoid wetland areas, not require any homes or businesses to relocate and relieve the area with an efficient route that would not clog roads leading directly to Southport.
The total for the proposed 4.1 miles of road, said Tri-City Inc. consultant Bill Comninaki, lands right around $25 million, the same price tagged on the DOT’s shorter, two lane connector. Tri-City Inc.’s road, he said, could be completed by the end of 2009, while the DOT might not be able to start until then. By Ben Brown