Bridging the gap.

• Position: Eastern

Everyone agrees that the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, which turns 50 this year, needs replacing. The question is how and where N.C. 12--the only road access from Hatteras Island to the northern Outer Banks and mainland--should span Oregon Inlet. The N.C. Department of Transportation is ready to do it with a $215.8 million bridge at roughly the same place. But it can't start until a federal judge rules on a suit filed by Charlottesville, Va.-based Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of two environmental groups that want to quash that route. They contend the department didn't give due consideration to routes that jut into...