Nantucket board hears $47M–$62M design options for Easy Street flood mitigation; staff urge continued work to preserve grant momentum

Summary

Coastal resilience staff outlined three Easy Street design options — bulkhead expansion (~$47M), adaptable road raising to 6.5 ft NAVD88 (~$58M), or road raising to 8 ft NAVD88 (~$62M) — and warned of roughly $1.2 billion in projected damages through 2070 if no action is taken; the board backed moving contracts and outreach forward.

Leah Hill, the town’s coastal resilience coordinator, told the Select Board on Feb. 11 that the Easy Street flood mitigation project now has three conceptual design options and a scope of additional work intended to let the town pick one design to advance to full design and permitting. “If we, meaning the town and private property owners, take no action, we can expect about $1,200,000,000 in losses and damages from now out to 2070,” Hill said.

Hill said the Coastal Zone Management grant that supported the concept phase produced an existing-conditions and flood-risk report, a concept design package and three refined alternatives. The options are: a bulkhead expansion and elevation (concept estimate a little over $47,000,000); an adaptable road raising to 6.5 feet NAVD88 (about $58,000,000); or a straight road raising to 8 feet NAVD88 (about $62,000,000). Hill emphasized the numbers are conceptual:…

Nantucket board hears $47M–$62M design options for Easy Street flood mitigation; staff urge continued work to preserve grant momentum

Summary

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