UPDATE: NCDOT
schedules a Highway 12 workshop on Ocracoke
After
holding two well attended public workshops this week in Dare County,
the North Carolina Department of Transportation will host a third
workshop early next month in Ocracoke to discuss long-term solutions
for the breaches on Highway 12 caused by Hurricane Irene.
"Citizens
on Ocracoke Island told us they wanted to know more about the options
we're considering to fix the N.C. 12 breaches on Pea Island and in
Rodanthe, so we gladly scheduled this additional meeting," said NCDOT
Project Planning Engineer Beth Smyre. "We appreciate their interest and
will use their feedback to help determine the best long-range solution
for each breach."
NCDOT has scheduled the workshop for Thursday, Jan. 5, from 5 to 7 p.m.
at the Ocracoke Community Center.
The
meeting is informal, and citizens are welcome to drop in at any time
between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. NCDOT representatives will be available to
explain the design options under consideration for each breach and
answer any questions. The public is urged to share their ideas,
thoughts, and suggestions with department staff.
NCDOT is
also accepting comments via traditional mail and e-mail. The comment
form and contact information will be available at the meeting and
online at www.ncdot.gov/travel/nc12recovery.
After the Dare County workshops, NCDOT is taking the steps below to
reach a final decision on how to fix each breach:
- Dec.
15 - The Merger Team, a group made up of state and federal agencies
tasked with developing the long-term solutions, will meet. They will
discuss the information shared by the panel of experts in the fields of
coastal science and engineering who met in October and the feedback
given thus far at the public workshops;
- Jan.
20 - NCDOT will officially close the public comment period. At that
time, the department will complete its assessment of all the feedback
received; and
- Late
January 2012 - NCDOT will meet with the Merger Team to select the
design option for each breach. The department will then take the
group's realistic, fundable recommendation to Gov. Bev Perdue.
Gov.
Perdue considers Highway 12 the "lifeline" of the Outer Banks economy
and requested that NCDOT quickly develop long-term solutions for the
breaches to ensure the public has efficient, reliable access to jobs
and education.
That process is a continuation of work
already under way as part of the Bonner Bridge Replacement Project.
Phase one of the project involves replacing the 2.7-mile bridge over
Oregon Inlet, which is currently in the design stage.
The
project also includes an active coastal monitoring program that uses
scientific data to determine what types of improvements are needed on
Highway 12 between Oregon Inlet and Rodanthe and when that work will
occur. Using this program, NCDOT is enacting phase two of the project,
which will implement the long-term solutions for the areas damaged by
Hurricane Irene.
In compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act, NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services for
disabled persons who wish to participate in the workshop in January. To
arrange appropriate accommodations, please contact Beth Smyre in the
NCDOT Project Development and Environmental Analysis Unit at (919)
707-6043 or via e-mail at bsmyre@ncdot.gov.
For
more information about the damage to N.C. 12 from Hurricane Irene and
NCDOT's efforts to temporarily fix it, visit
www.ncdot.org/travel/nc12recovery, follow our N.C. 12 Twitter feed at http://twitter.com/NCDOT_NC12
or go to our Repairing N.C. 12 blog at http://nc12repairs.blogspot.com/.
