NCDOT Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates

Outer Banks Matthew Recap

Construction on the Beach Road in Kitty Hawk, repairing damage done by Hurricane Matthew.

Hurricane Matthew is almost two weeks gone and we’re still dealing with the lingering effects here on the Outer Banks.

Everything is open and there is plenty for our visitors to do, but look around and evidence of its passage is not hard to find.

Large puddles still cover some parking lots and lower lying roads. For our Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates. guests hailing from towns and cities away from the coast, it may seem strange. Living on the coast, however, there is an acceptance that we’re at sea level, and there is no place for the water to drain to.

The other part to why the water is still there…it’s actually ground water. The rains fell so hard and so fast and there was so much of it, that the water table rose to the surface. The water table is subsiding, but it is going to take another couple of weeks.

Different areas of the Outer Bank suffered different amounts of damage. Our friends down on Hatteras Island really got hammered, but roads are open and things are just about back to normal.

We had some of the worst flooding we’ve seen on the ocean side in Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head. In Nags Head two of our favorite places on the Beach Road, Seagreen Gallery and Surfin’ Spoon, really took a beating. Seagreen should be reopening soon if they haven’t already—we didn’t get a chance to check this week. Surfin’ Spoon will take longer; they lost some of their equipmen.

Most of the Outer Banks roads came through remarkably well. The glaring exception is the Beach Road in front of the Black Pelican in Kitty Hawk. Just to the north of where the ocean wiped out the road, NCDOT had replaced the road last year and protected the roadbed with giant sandbags. The process is being extended to the new section that was damaged. Construction typically takes about one to two months so expect the road to be reopened sometime around Thanksgiving.

OBX Matthew News-This Weekend and Beyond

Hurricane Matthew should be long gone by next weekend when the Outer Banks Seafood Festival takes center stage.

Even though it looks as though Hurricane Matthew is going to pass well to the south of the Outer Banks as it heads out to sea, we’re still feeling some of the effects of the storm. Nothing at all like Florida is experiencing—and Georgia and South Carolina after that, and we really hope coastal residents in those areas are staying safe and out of the way of the wind and surging seas.

One of the characteristics of tropical systems is they pump a lot of moisture into the atmosphere. That moisture is coming down locally in the form of rain and a lot of it…6-8” on Saturday into Sunday.

That rain—and it’s going to be windy too—means two of the best music festivals around had to be canceled. The Mustang Music Festival and the 10th Annual Duck Jazz Festival will not be happening this year.

A piece of good news: The 24th Annual Parade of Homes is going forward, and talking to some of the builders today, it looks as though the turn out was pretty good.

The ocean is certainly stirred up right now, and there has been some overwash; the Beach Road around the Black Pelican is closed and NCDOT crews are working to hold the ocean back, piling sand on the dune line as quickly as they can.

If this weekend seems too wet, think about visiting us next Saturday for the Outer Banks Seafood Festival. The early read is the weather looks great.

For some great information about local effects of Hurricane Matthew, check out the National Weather Service briefing: http://www.weather.gov/media/mhx/LatestBriefing.pdf

The Tale Behind the Tall Pine Bridge Replacement

Tall Pine bridge over Snow Goose Canal nearing completion in April.

After 55 years or so they’re finally replacing the bridges over the Southern Shores canals. Not a bad lifespan for a used bridge.

Residents and regular visitors to the Outer Banks know that the Tall Pine Bridge that spans the Snow Goose Canal is being replaced. The latest bulletin from the town of Southern Shores has the completion date of the project right on schedule in about a month.

The new bridge is a modern construct—looks like it will last at least 50 years and maybe 100. The old bridge. . . . well, it had a life before coming to Southern Shores and how it got there says a lot about David Stick who played such a pivotal role in the creation of the town.

David joined his father, Frank, in the early 1950s to market the new resort community of Southern Shores. Frank felt the beachfront properties were where the greatest potential lay. His son disagreed, viewing the soundside of the 2600 acres as ideal for year round residents.

To raise money he harvested the dogwood trees in the forest and used the money made from that to cut some roads and create canals to drain the swamp. However, after building the roads and cutting the canals there was no money left to build a bridge. Since the roads did not meet NCDOT standards, the state was not going to put a bridge in for him.

But NCDOT was replacing some bridges in Eastern North Carolina and David agreed to take the old bridges away intact. It was a classic win/win: David got the bridges he needed at the cost of moving them and the state didn’t have to pay to dispose of them.

They are getting replaced now.

For anyone coming down to the Outer Banks for the next month it’s important to know that there is no through traffic on South Dogwood in Southern Shores because the bridge over the canal is closed.

Groundbreaking for Much Delayed Bonner Replacement

JLbonnergrbrk — Bob Woodard, Chair Dare County Commissioners; Nicholas Tennyson, Secretary NCDOT; Governor Pat McCrory; Queen Elizabeth; Shelley Blake, NCDOT lead counsel; Representative Walter Jones; Malcolm Fearing.

Three years from now and a few hundred million dollars later, a replacement span for the Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet will finally be in place. Today marked the official beginning of the process as politicians came from Raleigh and Washington, DC to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new bridge.

The weather was about as good as it gets on the Outer Banks in early March with temperatures in the mid 60s and a gentle south breeze. The speakers included Governor Pat McCrory and Congressman Walter B. Jones, and a theme that seemed to run throughout the remarks was the extraordinary sense of teamwork that ran throughout a process that included more than ten years of courtroom battles.

“I noticed the teamwork you had between your local city, county and state officials and the federal government and the private sector would step up to the plate,” Governor McCrory said.

It was a phenomena that Representative Jones also remarked upon.

“I want to thank the local leadership that came to Washington on a regular basis . . . and sat down with us and talked about the needs of this coastal county. That is what helps Washington understand, this is a different county,” he said.

The bridge, completed in 1963 was supposed to have a 30 year lifespan, but legal battles between the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) and NCDOT over over where to place the bridge, environmental impact and how documents were created created years of litigation.

It wasn’t until June of this year the SELC and NCDOT reached an agreement that would allow the bridge to be built without further lawsuits.

The bridge is one of three project called for in the settlement. The other two include a jug handle at the Rodanthe S curves to avoid an area of consistent ocean overwash, and a new route bypassing the New Inlet area of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge.

The replacement span will have a 100 year planned life and will include stainless steel girders pilings driven 100’ into the ground. There will also be improved navigational aids for commercial and residential watercraft.

Joe Lamb, Jr. Outer Banks Review of 2015

By any standards, 2015 was a good year on the Outer Banks. Final figures aren’t in yet, but unless November and December post a negative number of people coming to the Outer Banks, visitor spending will set new records. The housing market is back on its feet again. There has been steady improvement for the past five years, and 2015 seems to be the year we can safely say it has come back; new construction is significantly up over 2014, the number of properties sold passed 2014 in November and we’re still waiting for the December figures to finalize the year.

There was other good news as well. NCDOT and the Southern Environmental Law Center reached an agreement that halted lawsuits preventing a replacement for the aging Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet. NCDOT also decided to accelerate the timetable for the Mid Currituck Bridge and with any luck there will be traffic relief in Southern Currituck and Southern Shores by 2021.

We gathered a some of the headlines from bigger events by month to look back over 2015. Some are significant; some remind us how much fun it is to be on the Outer Banks.

January

Wedding Expo Best Attended Yet

Weddings and events are big business on the Outer Banks and the 2015 Expo brought brides, grooms and their entourage from all over the US. This year’s Outer Banks Wedding Association’s Wedding Expo is January 16-17.

February

Possibility of Offshore Wind Energy in NC Future

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced lease sites for offshore wind energy development. Located 28 miles offshore, the Kitty Hawk site is one of the potentially most productive on the East Coast.

March

OBX Opposition Grows to Offshore Oil & Gas

With the news that BOEM was going to reopen the Eastern Seaboard to offshore drilling, a unified Outer Banks rose up in protest. The issue is still undecided, with surveys of potential drilling sites not yet finished.

The Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates BBQ & WINGS Showdown

Part of the Outer Banks Taste of the Beach, the Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates BBQ & Wings Showdown packed them in. Well, we couldn’t help but pack them is since it rained that day and we had to hold the whole event in a giant tent, but we would have packed them in anyway. This year’s Taste of the Beach is March 17-20.

April

A Special Day for OBX Special Olympics

Held the last Saturday in April, the Dare County Special Olympics brought together over 200 athletes in a remarkable display of love, family and competitive effort.

May

OBX Brewfest

The first of what we can only hope is many OBX Brewfests. Great beer, great music and a wonderful atmosphere. The initial event for the refurbished and expanded Outer Banks Event Site, the setting could not have been any better. Look for the 2016 version over Memorial Day Weekend.

June

Bonner Bridge

An historic and hard fought settlement between the SELC and the NCDOT put an end to the litigation holding up construction of the replacement for the Bonner Bridge. The bridge, built in 1964 originally had an 40 life span. Construction for the replacement span should begin this spring.

July

Jefferson Starship

Under the heading of what’s old is new, Jefferson Starship made an appearance at the Lost Colony. Amazing that after all these years, they still sound as fresh and new as ever.

August

34th New World Festival of the Arts

Back in 1981 Edward Greene, owner of the Christmas Shop in Manteo, felt there had to be some way to get people to come to the town so he introduced the Outer Banks to the New World Festival of the Arts. He’s handed it off to the Dare County Arts Council—Edward is 91 and wants to slow down a bit—but the festival is still a marvelous combination of craft and high art.

September

Mother Nature Forces OBX Cancellations

Mother Nature really threw a curve at us in September. Hurricane Joaquin started to come this way then veered out to sea and that was followed by an early season nor’easter. Quite a number of events had to be cancelled and the Beach Road north of Black Pelican in Kitty Hawk was washed out for the second time in 2015.

October

Brewtag-Can Beer Kegs Fly?

The short answer is apparently not—or at least not well. But the event, sponsored by Kitty Hawk Kites, was a lot of fun.

November

10th Annual Outer Banks Marathon This Weekend

Blossoming from a single event 10 years ago to a weekend of family fitness time with races from fun runs to the Marathon. Near record times in 2015. The 2016 Marathon Weekend will be November 11-13.

December

New Town Council in Southern Shores

Capping a year of turmoil a new town council was seated in Southern Shores with three the three incumbents standing for re-election voted out of office.

Record Warmth for the Month

More like spring or early fall that winter, the Outer Banks experienced 60 and 70 degree daytime temperatures all month. The fishing was great, the surfing ok—there wasn’t a lot to stir up the ocean—but the spirit of the holidays was alive and well.

Tag: NCDOT

Outer Banks Matthew Recap

OBX Matthew News-This Weekend and Beyond

The Tale Behind the Tall Pine Bridge Replacement

Groundbreaking for Much Delayed Bonner Replacement

Joe Lamb, Jr. Outer Banks Review of 2015

How to Contact Us

Popular Searches

Our Associations