The Round Swamp Bridge on North Road as it crosses the Great Creek. The roadway has flooded three times in four weeks.
In the wake of three storms in four weeks that prompted emergency closures of North Road at Marsh Meadows and Beavertail Road at Mackerel Cove, the town council was given a brief snapshot on what the future of those sections could look like.
Pam Cotter, administrator of planning at the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, delivered a presentation titled “Jamestown corridor project: State of good repair and resiliency improvements in response to sea-level rise.”
“I understand these last few storms have been very difficult,” she said.
The agency provided five options for the most significant part of the project, the Round Swamp Bridge at the Great Creek, which was built in 1934. Potter said there could be up to 3 feet of sea-level rise by 2050, which would submerge the road in water. To combat that, she said her department is recommending a 1,250-foot-long bridge 12 feet above sea level. The estimated cost is $94.3 million.
“That’s about the size of the Washington Bridge in Providence,” she said. “It’s a large, large bridge, and I want you guys to all be aware of that. It elevates the existing roadway while addressing the ongoing issues of the hydraulic openings.”
A schematic of the 1,250-foot-long bridge proposed by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.
The other options include abandoning the road ($22.9 million), enlarging the hydraulic openings ($30.2 million) and raising the elevation ($60.4 million).
Councilman Randy White asked whether the proposed span would allow pedestrians and cyclists to cross. Cotter said that would be problematic because, along with increasing the price tag, making the bridge any wider would further disturb wetlands and encroach on rights-of-way.
“Every time we go a little wider, we’re getting into a worse permitting situation,” she said. “It gets harder and harder to move that footprint of that bridge out for a shared-use path.”
Cotter said if the town agreed to work with the state, they could investigate the possibility. Mary Meagher, vice president of the council, welcomed that partnership because of “how important this island is to the people who live here.”
“This is the lifeblood of our town,” she said. “We really want to partner with you.”
She then quipped, “Except for the funding part.”
Cotter referred to the corridor project including both North Road and East Shore Road.
“We realize that we’re getting both ends of the in and out of the island,” she said. “There’s no other way except these two roads.”
“Right,” Meagher replied. “And we don’t allow heliports.”
Town Administrator Ed Mello reminded the councilors about the North Road bridge being only part of the program. Cotter’s presentation also included replacing the Conanicut Bridge on East Shore Road and the culvert at the toll plaza.
There also would be road resurfacing from Route 138 on North Road to Mackerel Cove and sidewalk rehabilitation on Narragansett Avenue west of North Road. The plan also calls for intersections realignments with sidewalks at Southwest-Hamilton and Conanicus Bay View. Mello said East Shore Road at Potter Cove, moreover, would be “made more appropriate in terms of character” by removing guardrails and making it “pedestrian-friendly.”
“There’s a lot of work that they’re doing outside of this bridge project,” he said. “Cleary the bridge is going to be the largest, but I didn’t want anyone to lose sight of all those other projects. It’s a significant program. We’re just trying to make the best effort to coordinate.”
At Mackerel Cove, however, there is no long-term solution in the pipeline. Mello said the council should be concerned about the next immediate steps.
“The first step is to bring back what was at Mackerel Cove before,” he said. “We have pretty much lost all of the material related to the parking lot. That’s going to require a purchase of a substantial amount of gravel to reconstruct that parking lot.”
Mello, moreover, said the $15,000 split-rail fence was destroyed.
“We’ve recovered the pieces,” he said. “I’ll just leave it at that.”
Also uncovered in the storm were posts “from five fences ago” and pilings from the bathhouse that was built nearly 100 years ago.
“I’m not sure what’s going to happen next time,” he said. “I’ve got to be honest. It’s getting to the point where we’re seeing more damage on the north side of the road. … There is no dune left. That’s the reality of where we are. This is long-term discussion in terms of how we’re going to mitigate that, if it’s at all possible. … That’s how significant we’ve seen damage there.”
Mello said he was confident there could be insurance money related to the parking lot. He does not expect the insurer, however, to help reclaim the materials to rebuild the dune. As for support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Mello said President Joe Biden first would have to declare a disaster in Newport County. He told the councilors they are going to have to determine Mackerel Cove’s immediate future before the financial situation is known.
“You’re going to be faced with the decision whether you want to put the beach back together and get it ready for the spring,” he said. “They put it back together twice already, and we’re back to nothing left there.”
With the possibility of more storms on the horizon, Mello said the public works department is currently more worried about “keeping the road open.”