This news will likely elicit a shrug from North Raleighites who have long since become convinced that the project won't be completed in their lifetime. For years residents have been clamoring for a new bridge over the Neuse River, which would provide a desperately needed connection to Wakefield and New Falls of Neuse Road.

While the council's latest action should be viewed as a positive step by even the most cynical observers, it doesn't mean drivers will be enjoying that new bridge anytime soon.

The bridge must still go through a lengthy and complex environmental permitting process.

"I would hate to estimate," said Carl Dawson, Raleigh's public works director. "Any schedule I'd give you would be really tentative."

Perhaps more than any other project, the Neuse River bridge has come to symbolize North Raleigh residents' frustration with city officials. Many point to it as proof that they've gotten little from the city for all the taxes they've been paying.

Wakefield's developers always planned for a new bridge. That's why they built New Falls of the Neuse from Capital Boulevard to a few hundred feet from the river.

But up until a few years ago the bridge was not considered a high priority among local and state transportation officials. In recent years that has changed, in good part because residents have expressed their frustration with the status quo.

While it's easy to attribute any delays in the bridge's construction to City Hall taking North Raleigh for granted, the truth is likely less sinister.

Thanks to inflation and a legislative "equity formula" for sharing transportation money statewide, urban areas are not getting the road funding they need. Finances are so tight officials are considering building the state's first modern toll road in Wake County.

In 10 years North Raleigh drivers may consider themselves lucky they're not paying a toll to cross the Neuse.