March 7, 2019
Reprinted courtesy of the Island Free Press
By Joy Crist
The North Carolina State Board of Transportation today unanimously voted to name the new bridge across Oregon Inlet the “Marc Basnight.” The segment of the old bridge that will become a pedestrian walkway will retain the Herbert C. Bonner name.
The new bridge opened to traffic on Feb. 25.
The resolution also rescinds the 1983 designation that named the entire length of N.C. 12– from U.S. 64 to the Ocracoke ferry terminal, the “Marc Basnight Highway.”
The Board of Transportation vote follows a resolution was passed by the Dare County Board of Commissioners (BOC) to rename the bridge after the former state senator at their Feb. 4 meeting by a 3-2 margin.
The BOC resolution was then sent to the N.C. Board of Transportation’s Road, Bridge and Ferry Naming committee, which on Feb. 6 recommended naming the new bridge across Oregon Inlet the “Marc Basnight Bridge,” with a sign underneath that says “Oregon Inlet.”
Marc Basnight was born in Manteo and represented Dare County in the North Carolina Senate from 1984 until 2011. He was President Pro Tempore of the Senate from 1993 until 2010, holding the position longer than anyone in state history. He also championed the Bonner Bridge Replacement Project from its infancy, noting the vital need for a reliable transportation link to Hatteras Island.
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