The new Mannon C. Gore Bridge opened in 2010. By the 1990s, plans to replace a one-lane swing bridge in Brunswick County were taking shape. It only made the topic more of a thorny issue.

The $110 million in federal money will help the N.C. Department of Transportation build a new 3.2-mile bridge across the Alligator River, replacing an existing one that’s more than 60 years old ...