BY JARED BRANDWEIN AND KAREN FORGET
VIRGINIA BEACH — We were pleased to see coverage of Virginia Beach’s controversial Nimmo Parkway Phase VII-B road proposal in The Independent News “Environmental groups raise issues with Nimmo extension to Sandbridge,” Sunday, May 22]. Lynnhaven River Now and Back Bay Restoration Foundation recognize Sandbridge Road floods with growing frequency.
We support reliable access to residents and businesses in the Sandbridge beach community and on Sandbridge Road. However, we have serious concerns about environmental damage and potential flooding risks posed by the Nimmo VII-B proposed roadway.
The estimated $45.5 million project would be constructed along a strip of public land that bisects Lago Mar and extends eastward across Ashville Bridge Creek and through nearly a mile of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The 1.8-mile proposed road would eventually tie into the existing Sandbridge Road roughly a mile west of Sandbridge.
Under federal law, the city must assess the environmental and community impacts of the project and thoroughly evaluate alternatives. It must present this important information to the public and decision-makers for review before the proposal can advance. On Monday, May 9, the city released its draft environmental assessment for the Nimmo VII-B project and seeks public comment through Friday, June 24.
Unfortunately, environmental assessment fails to answer many of the key questions we have about this project. It offers only a cursory evaluation of the road’s impacts on sensitive ecosystems, wildlife and habitat, hydrology and flooding. It also fails to assess alternative solutions such as fixing existing Sandbridge Road. Instead, it dismisses this solution based on data from studies produced nearly 20 years ago. We all know how dramatically conditions in the area have changed over the past two decades.
In addition to the impacts from filling and bisecting wetlands that help absorb floodwater, Nimmo VII-B would result in unintended consequences to existing neighborhoods. For example, the project would more than double current traffic numbers on the existing section of Nimmo Parkway from Red Mill Commons to Lago Mar. If the road is built, residents could be forced to choose between living with the noise pollution the project would generate or accepting unappealing sound barriers in an attempt to mitigate increased noise from all those additional cars and trucks.
Virginia Beach has some of the highest rates of relative sea-level rise on the East Coast. In the Back Bay watershed, we also contend with wind tides that push water from the Currituck Sound and cause flooding throughout Back Bay and on Sandbridge Road. The environmental assessment fails to consider how the road would impact the movement of water both north and south through the impacted area and nearby neighborhoods, particularly in combination with the higher sea levels, greater precipitation and more frequent storm events that climate change is causing. A detailed and comprehensive hydrology study is needed to determine how this road could make existing flooding in the area worse.
Please tell decision-makers how important it is that they fully understand the impacts that the Nimmo VII-B proposal would have on surrounding resources and communities, and ask that they give serious and unbiased consideration to upgrading the existing Sandbridge Road.
Please plan to attend the city public meeting at 5 p.m., Wednesday, June 8, at Three Oaks Elementary School, 2201 Elson Green Ave, and submit your written comments to Ryan Johnson via email to rjohnson@vbgov.com by Friday, June 24.
Building a safer and more flood-resilient Sandbridge Road will serve both the citizens and businesses along Sandbridge Road and in the Sandbridge beach community while avoiding detrimental impacts to valuable wetlands, important wildlife habitats and the potential of increased flooding from the construction of Nimmo VII-B. This option must be explored fully before the city commits close to $50 million in taxpayer dollars to such a destructive project.
Brandwein is the executive director of Back Bay Restoration Foundation. Forget is the executive director of Lynnhaven River Now.
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