Hwy 12 On Outer Banks Washed Out

[gunner76]

Folks planning to hike/ride the outer banks part of the MST trail need to be aware that Hurrican Irene wash away several parts of Hwy 12. It will be several months before a new road is completed and local residents are just now getting ready to be allowed back to certain areas.

This usally happens whenever a hurricane passes thru the outer banks.

[gunner76]

According to the news the DOT will have Hwy 12 repaired and opened sometime in October.

[Pedaling Fool]

Some are saying that we should just let nature reclaim that stretch because it's become a revolving door for millions of tax dollars every time a storm comes thru (not just hurricanes). http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/30/outer-banks-highway-faces-extensive-costly-repairs-again/

Excerpt:


"Then expect to be paying for repairs frequently, East Carolina University geology professor Stanley R. Riggs tells the News & Observer.

"If we get one or two more of these (storms) in September and October, you're going to have a whole bunch of holes in the Outer Banks out there," the paper quotes him as saying.
Even the state Department of Transportation acknowledges that its a price that will have to be paid again and again. A 1991 study found that "six sections of NC 12 on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands frequently need extensive maintenance due to severe storm and erosion damage," the department says on its website.

Riggs tells the News & Observer that those extensive maintenance efforts in the end only make erosion problems worse because they prevent the migration of the Outer Banks, as the islands want to grow on their western side and shrink on the ocean-facing east side.

Of course, the question of how often taxpayers should pay for the few who live on fragile oceanside property is not a new one, and in some cases, the answer is not to rebuild. For instance, after Hurricane Ike wiped out much Gilchrist, Texas (http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/26/owners-of-last-house-standing-part-of-peninsulas-comeback/), in 2008, the Federal Emergency Management Agency paid for a county plan to buy out the owners of lost properties, with the stipulation they not build there again."

[jbenson]

I live here in Salvo. We need that highway for access to doctors, dentists, hospitals, and shopping. The outerbanks served by hwy 12 pay much more taxes into the state of NC than it costs to maintain the highway. If you advocate leaving hwy 12 closed, you should also be advocating never maintaining any other highways in the state. That would include never clearing them of snow.