The Virginian-Pilot
©
RODANTHE
Options to permanently repair breaches on N.C. 12 no longer include beach nourishment and instead favor bridges.
On Thursday, the North Carolina Department of Transportation met with representatives from other state and federal agencies to discuss which design options should remain in the running as a permanent solution to the breaches carved by Hurricane Irene on Pea Island and in Rodanthe.
The group reached a general consensus to build a bridge where N.C. 12 is currently located on Pea Island and to build a bridge within existing easements or one that would extend into the Pamlico Sound at the Rodanthe breach, a transportation department news release said.
During the "Merger Team" meeting, an option to build a new road or bridge west of the existing N.C. 12 on Pea Island was eliminated, along with plans for beach nourishment at either breach, because the group wanted to focus efforts "on the most realistic options," the news release said.
Wes Hutchinson, vice president of the Mirlo Beach Home Owners Association, said he believes NCDOT has acted too quickly in nixing beach nourishment.
"Until we see exactly what the reasons were, we're not convinced," he said.
There has never been a large-scale beach nourishment project on Hatteras Island, he said, and until there is, no one knows whether it will work.
Hutchinson, who owns a vacation home in Rodanthe, also said a bridge will impede views, devalue property and interfere with water sports.
Warren Judge, chairman of the Dare County commissioners, said he and other commissioners support beach nourishment as the best way to protect the highway.
"And not one-time beach renourishment," he said. "You build the beaches and you maintain them. But regardless of what the answer is, we need a permanent, reliable, secure transportation link."
NCDOT has also agreed to work on another option suggested by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which would involve a bridge from north of the Pea Island breach through the Pamlico Sound to Rodanthe. The concept is still vague, the news release indicated, and the two agencies will be meeting to map out the option.
Public comments on the proposals will be accepted until Jan. 20, and NCDOT wants to send the governor a recommendation by the end of January.
Motorists are using a temporary bridge that reconnected the island to the mainland on Oct. 10.
Hundreds were stranded when Irene sliced through the island in August.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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USFWS Suggestions
Bridge from the Pea Island breach--LONG BRIDGE BY ANOTHER NAME.
Road or bridge should be moved to the west where needed--it is the law
"Public Law 229 * authorized granting a road easement to North Carolina through the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. It states in part, “Secretary of the Interior is Authorized to convey to the State of North Carolina a permanent Easement for the construction of a public road (together with rights for such other uses as may be customary or necessary in the State of North Carolina in connection with the construction or operation of such a road) through Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge in Dare County North Carolina” (emphasis added)."
And the Wildlife Refuge Act doesn't change the law
From a letter written by a concerned citizen in 2009
The foundation of the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 was the 1996 Executive order #12996. The order directs existing laws to be given deference, see Sec. 3. “Directives of the Secretary of the Interior. To the extent consistent with existing laws and interagency agreements…” Public law 229 had been in existence for 45 years at the time the executive order was signed into law."
The refuge act barrs USFWS from challenging compatibilty
From the same 2009 letter
Furthermore, the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 directly addresses existing, long-term uses such as easements. The act ecepts long-term uses (such as easements) in the following manner: except that, in the case of any use authorized for a period longer than 10 years (such as an electric utility right-of-way), the reevaluation required by this clause shall examine compliance with the conditions of the authorization, not examine the authorization itself;”
It is apparent that USFWS is attempting to take the stance the operation of NC highway 12 through the refuge is incompatible, a judgment that they are statutorily barred from making.