Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Local Links
Featured Blogs
By Sam Walker on October 31, 2014
Flooding at the bridge on Oct. 4, 2014. (NCDOT)
The N.C. Department of Transportation plans to raise the approaches to the temporary bridge on Pea Island over the breech cut by Hurricane Irene in the coming weeks to help address problems with overwash flooding.
But building sand dunes along the oceanfront to slow down ocean water washing over the beach during higher than normal tides is still being discussed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which administers Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge land that sits between the bridge and the Atlantic Ocean.
NCDOT spokesperson Jennifer Garifo said Friday the highway department is waiting on the contractor repaving roads in Ocracoke village to determine when they will finish that project, and have crews and equipment available for the Pea Island work.
“Plans are to raise the northbound lane on the ocean side about 18 inches, and the southbound lane on the sound side about 9 inches,” Garifo said. The elevation would gradually slope towards the soundside.
The dates for the project should be announced in a couple of weeks at the latest, according to Garifo.
The inlet formed by the powerful soundside flooding during the August 2011 hurricane has for the most part filled in with sand from ocean to sound.
But with no dune line, water travels over the breech and into lagoons that remained after the storm and then onto the road surface.
“We are limited by how much right-of-way we have on the ocean side,” Garifo said. “We are working with Fish and Wildlife about coming up with a plan to build some type of berms in that area.”
Construction of a permanent bridge over the breech was stopped in September, after it was announced the state and environmental groups were entering closed door negotiations on a lawsuit filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center attempting to block replacement of the Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet.
Gov. Pat McCrory and Transportation Secretary Tony Tata reiterated Friday at an event in Elizabeth City that they could not discuss any information about the negotiations.
The same week the negotiations were announced, a proposal surfaced that would have a permanent bridge bypassing the southern half of Pea Island out over Pamlico Sound from north of the breech to Rodanthe.
Join the discussion Cancel reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
*
*
Popular