I love the coast of NC but I do not believe that taxpayer dollars should be spent on rebuilding Hwy 12 in NC. It is breached every time a storm hits the coast. Millions of taxpayer dollars are wasted. I personally feel these islands should be accessed by boat/ferry. Save taxpayer funds.
+1 unless, of course, one can produce facts which prove that spending the money on the road yields a positive return via taxes/tourism etc. hey, wait...that's a great idea: TOLL ROAD. let it pay for itself.
+1 Ferries cost money too although I believe fee based and subsidized by tax payer dollars. I vote for toll bridge myself..
+2 for bridge tentatively...i was just saying the other day i'd love to see a study of this...but that would be way too transparent so i'm not holding my breath.
What would a bridge accomplish? You realize Hwy 12 runs most of the length of the outer banks....right? Getting to the outer banks isn't the issue. Unlike Harvey's fantasyland railroad, this highway earns an economic return. The tax revenue vs expenditures for that area via Hwy 12 aren't even in the same ballpark.
Please provide the information that proves this statement. And don't use Dare County tax revenues because I believe the majority comes from the area north of the breaches.
http://outerbanksvoice.com/2011/08/17/dare-county-near-top-in-state-tourism-spending/ http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/30/outer-banks-highway-faces-extensive-costly-repairs-again/
Random thoughts... $830M was the total spending -not the net tax revenue- for Dare County and $5M was only the cost to repair the road, so it's apples and oranges. Sorry- I get hung up on statistics, but I am seeking therapy for it. I suspect most of the taxable goods that are consumed South of the breaches are probably bought North of the them, so Dare County tax revenues do have some bearing on this discussion. I would no sooner build my home on a sand dune than I would a frozen lake -there was a very good reason our predecessors never put built anything out there they weren't willing to lose. ...and- call it class envy if you wish, but I'll be damned if I want to subsidize someone else's beach house. That is all.
That is the most asinine defense I've ever read. What on earth is there to do that would warrant spending money in the Dare County portion that is not on the outer banks? The article stated the county had the FOURTH HIGHEST total tourism spending in the state at over $830 million dollars. Fourth highest out of 100 counties. Clearly that money is being spent along Hwy 12. What do you think those people are doing there if not going to the outer banks? I believe that county deserves to have its roads repaired despite your personal feelings about it. I might could understand if it were the least popular tourism state. Sounds like class envy. Aren't you a Democrat? If so that might explain it.
:iagree: Let the people who actually go to the beach and the tourists who flock to the beach pay it via a toll.
understood, but if even 1/4 of that is spent along highway 12, it's still 200 to 5 million, and still a good expenditure. from my standpoint, it's a positive result on tax dollars invested. in general though, i'm against special treatment. remember the huge apartment/condo building about 10-15 years ago that the owners were trying to get the state to pay for beach renourishment so that it wouldn't fall into the sea and all those people would lose their investments? i was totally against that. not subsidizing your bad investment with tax dollars when you knew damn well it was being built on a beach that gets hit by hurricanes. that was for the benefit of a few. rebuilding 12 seems to be for the benefit of all 8 or 9 million of us. by the way, the only reason i've changed my tune is because of the numbers.
