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Residents, fire officials urge county to oppose full Route 336 closure over safety, access concerns
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Summary
Multiple residents and emergency responders urged the council to oppose a planned three-week full closure of Route 336 at Worlds End, saying the Marsh Road detour floods, cannot safely bear detoured traffic and would harm businesses and emergency response; councilors said they are coordinating with SHA and fire chiefs.
Several residents and emergency-service volunteers spoke during public comment to oppose a proposed full closure of Route 336 (Worlds End) for pipe work, urging county support at an upcoming state meeting.
Tommy Goody of Goody's Marine told the council he believes the work could be staged one side at a time and that the planned three-week full closure — with traffic detoured to Marsh Road (the Marsh Road/Maple Dam Road route) — would create safety and access problems because that road frequently floods and is not built for the heavier detour traffic. He said the closure would add up to an hour of travel for some employees and hamper mail and deliveries.
TJ Abbott, a volunteer fire-department captain, said the closure would change mutual-aid patterns and said some local apparatus exceed posted weights; he warned that response routes and vehicle GVW (gross vehicle weight) need to be considered. County staff said the Shorter's Wharf bridge was inspected and rated for 72,000 pounds but explained that road surface limitations and other constraints complicate detour routing. Staff and councilors said they have raised these concerns with the State Highway Administration (SHA) and will pass written comments and technical information to SHA and fire chiefs.
A local store owner, David Beverly, described the potential inventory and distribution impacts if trucks cannot cross the bridge and warned that some distributors will not use the detour route. Residents urged at least shoulder and millings work on the detour route or other mitigations if the closure proceeds.
Councilors said they will continue discussions with SHA, coordinate with emergency-service leaders and share resident input at the state meeting. No formal county vote opposing the closure was taken at this meeting; council staff said SHA representatives will attend a follow-up meeting and the county would forward the public comments and technical information.
