‘Like we got our city back'

A perfectly blue sky was the backdrop Friday for the moment that New Bern has waited nearly three years to experience: the opening of the Alfred Cunningham Bridge downtown.

The half-mile drawbridge replaces a 1950s version that has been out of commission since May 2007, when N.C. Department of Transportation began working on the new one. Then-city leaders sought to have this new bridge in place for New Bern’s 300th anniversary celebration this year.

Though an official ceremony won’t happen until Monday at 11 a.m., the bridge was open to traffic — pedestrians and drivers alike — at 11:05 a.m. Friday.

“It’s like we got our city back,” said Tom Ballance, a downtown restaurateur who has been vocal about his bridge-related frustrations. “Usually you can walk out the side door of my restaurant and cross over to South Front Street without having to look for traffic. Today, the traffic has increased 500 percent — and it’s amazing and wonderful.”  

Resident Engineer Johnny Metcalfe said “weather-related and environmental challenges” had delayed state Department of Transportation contractors by several months, forcing them to adjust their original bridge-completion deadline, which was November 2009.

“We were certainly anxious for this day to come and wanted to make sure everything went off without any last-minute surprises,” Metcalfe said. “We were especially glad to be able to give the morning bridge tour to downtown merchants so we could thank them for their patience.”

Alderman Sabrina Bengel, who represents the city’s 1st Ward downtown, is also one of those merchants.

“This is the most awesome day I have had in a long time,” she said. “The business owners downtown really are like a family, and the tenacity of this group throughout all of this work has been amazing.

“We have come together and cried on each other’s shoulders when times were tough, so it has been wonderful to come together with them today to celebrate,” Bengel said. “Greg (Mitchell) and I were beaming from ear to ear.”

The bridge cuts significant driving time from trips into and out of downtown. Travel time from the intersection of East Front and South Front streets to the Pembroke offramp on U.S. 70/17 was just over two minutes at lunchtime Friday. The travel time between the same two points but using the detour through side streets took eight minutes.

Before the bridge was open, workers did have a few last-minute details to handle, including replacing the molybdenum — or moly — grease that is used on the bridge’s rack and pinion gears.

“Moly grease is what you use during your testing of the bridge and training, because the permanent grease, which went on this morning, is extremely messy,” Metcalfe said.

The Cunningham is a “bascule” bridge, which is a French term that means “seesaw and balance.” The bascule section — the part of the bridge that moves up and down — is 186 feet long.

The first person to cross the new bridge on a bicycle was Alan Woodard, who peddled from the Brices Creek area and crossed from the James City side.

“This is great,” he said. “I can finally get to my bank downtown without having to ride all the way around.”

The first vehicle in line traveling into New Bern was driven by Spencer Gibson of Brices Creek. He had a special passenger, his grandfather Tommy Gibson, who was a bridge tender on the old Cunningham swing bridge from the time it was built in the 1950s until 1986.

The first vehicle in line traveling away from downtown New Bern was an unmarked police car driven by Chief Frank Palombo.

Melissa Aldridge, who divides time living in New Bern and in England, was the first pedestrian to cross the bridge in a wheelchair. She is recovering from surgery, but made the scenic trip Friday with the assistance of her sister Bridget Cella and a friend, Kim Ball, both of New Bern.

DOT Division Engineer Neil Lassiter said the bridge project has been “very unique” and is the result of strong collaboration between the state and the city.

“We got a lot of input from a lot of different groups on this so that we could really capture what the people would like their bridge to be,” Lassiter said. “We are so pleased that it is open so the citizens can use it, and we believe it will be a signature for the city of New Bern.”

Charlie Hall and Randy Foster contributed to this story.

Nikie Mayo can be reached at 252-635-5665 or nmayo@freedomenc.com.