State Auditor’s Report Details Problems With Stalled Mid-Currituck Bridge Project

Today, the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor released a Rapid Response Special Report highlighting some key problems with the Mid-Currituck Bridge project, a proposed seven-mile bridge connecting the mainland to the Outer Banks to provide for more rapid hurricane evacuation. The project started in 1995, but despite decades of planning – and $61 million in total expenditures to date – no construction contract has been awarded and no baseline budget or schedule is in place. 

“The people of Currituck County following this project have been dragged along for 30 years,” said State Auditor Dave Boliek. “What the team at the Office of State Auditor found is that despite spending money, no dirt has been moved. Taxpayers are more than $60 million in the hole on a 30-year project that certainly remains far from completion.” 

Here are some of the key findings in the report: 

• The projected cost of the Mid-Currituck Bridge has more than doubled since federal approval in 2019. 

• To date, $61 million has been spent on the Mid-Currituck Bridge project, without a construction contract. 

• The funding gap for the bridge exceeds $700 million, under either delivery model. 

• Toll revenues over 50 years cannot support project costs. 

• NCDOT overestimated its traffic forecasts. 

• The original financing plan is no longer viable under current conditions. 

• The window to advance the Mid-Currituck Bridge project is narrowing.