VIRGINIA BEACH — Four environmental groups have criticized a draft environmental assessment of the extension of Nimmo Parkway to Sandbridge as insufficient – and raised wider concerns about the long-sought project because it could harm habitat and wildlife when it cuts through part of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
The groups are Back Bay Restoration Foundation, Lynnhaven River Now, Southern Environmental Law Center and Wetlands Watch. They are responding to a draft environmental assessment released this month for review and comment, which concludes next month. A meeting about the project, which is meant to provide more reliable and safer travel to the residential resort community, is scheduled for early June.
Jared Brandwein, executive director of Back Bay Restoration Foundation, this week said the organizations have concerns the city and federal government should address in the review process and that more consideration should be given to other options besides building the new road.
During an interview on Wednesday, May 18, he said there should be an environmental impact statement prepared for the project, a more rigorous review process than an environmental assessment.
In a statement provided to The Independent News, Brandwein argued the project will “severely disrupt [refuge] sensitive habitat and undermine the very purpose for which the refuge was established.”
“We have multiple concerns,” said Karen Forget, president of Lynnhaven Now, during an interview on Wednesday, May 18. “One is certainly the impact to the refuge property, the impact to wildlife, the impact to marshes and maritime forest. That has to be looked at really, really carefully.”
Forget said there are also concerns about what extending Nimmo Parkway does to help businesses and people who live along the Sandbridge Road corridor. “They’re still trapped every time the road floods,” she said. “We feel there is a better alternative … to make the improvements that need to be made to the existing Sandbridge Road.”
“Building new roads across cypress swamps and through forested wetlands is not a recipe for regional resilience,” Skip Stiles, executive director of Wetlands Watch, said in a statement.
Sandbridge Road is a two-lane road which is prone to flooding, and it is the only way in and out of Sandbridge. Traffic through Dam Neck Annex – a military facility – has been allowed when Sandbridge Road is impassable for sustained periods of time.
The planned extension path for Nimmo Parkway Phase VII-B, as it is called, would cross Ashville Bridge Creek and cut through about a mile of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge before connecting with Sandbridge Road west of the beach community. The east-west corridor would be built within existing right-of-way owned by the city, according to the draft report.
The draft environmental assessment and project details can be reviewed online via nimmoparkway7b.com, and the city is accepting comments on the draft until Friday, June 24, including through the website.
Criticism in a joint statement prepared by the four environmental organizations said there is concern that the review has been cursory and that more work is needed to consider alternatives, such as continuing to improve Sandbridge Road.
The project would result in 9.7 acres of wetland impacts, according to the draft environmental assessment. According to a city summary, it would have slightly more wetlands impacts that some Sandbridge Road improvements, but much less impact to homes, businesses and private property.
Brandwein said there would likely be additional impacts, and there is no in-depth hydrological study in the assesment.
The draft described water quality impact as “minor” due to more impervious surface, traffic and pollutants washed from the road.
The report lists loss of habitat, possible effects to how wildlife move through the refuge and and potential deaths of wildlife struck by vehicles as risks. The city may install wildlife crossings for small animals, according to the assessment.
The project would be build for an estimated $45.5 million, according to a summary in the city’s FY23-28 capital spending plan. The project would involve $12 million in federal funding and $3 million from the state, the plan says. Construction may happen between 2026 and 2030.
© 2022 Pungo Publishing Co., LLC
Sandbridge Road near Sandbridge Beach is extremely dangerous, has narrow lanes, many sharp curves, and frequent flooding. The nimmo extension would have none of these, which would save lives. To me, one human life is much more important than a very small amount environmental damage. The cost of maintaining Sandbridge road and roadway is many times higher than the extension, when considering downed trees, power poles, wrecked vehicles, hospital stays, and death expenses. The extension would be much more environmentally friendly than Sandbridge road. It is much shorter,saving gas, and time. Utility’s will be underground which saves mature trees, with their ability to fight flooding and global warming. A solution could be for government to purchase property on Sandbridge road and give it to Backbay wildlife. If money is a problem, end the ARP and use that money for the extension.