Community calling for road around Lawrencetown Beach to be realigned

As work gets underway to rebuild the rock berm at Lawrencetown Beach, which was weakened by post-tropical storm Dorian, there are calls from community members to realign the road to avoid the problem in the future.

The province is allocating $60,000 to put up more armour rock along the beach to protect Highway 207. Not including the current work, the province has already spent over $77,000 maintaining the area since 2015, which includes $37,000 for storm damage repairs in 2017 alone.

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Lawrencetown resident and chair of Nova Scotia’s surfing association’s coastal access committee Vic Ruzgys says the rock berms are a short-term solution.

“They’re not particularly effective because of the erosion and undermining of those rocks,” he said.

“They tend to be dragged out to sea, as a result the protection afforded by them is diminished as each storm passes.”

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He says the province should instead consider realigning about half a kilometre of road closest to the ocean, moving it back about 200 metres.

“By cutting off that corner and redirecting the road slightly north, that moves the road away from the erosion area,” said Ruzgys.

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The idea is supported by David Hendsbee, the regional councillor for the area.

“As the big storms hit, the ocean water goes over the highway as well and we’re concerned that it might wash out the highway,” he said.

“The 207 is one of the few lings along the eastern shore and if that link should go there’s a long detour.”

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That detour adds about 30 to 40 kilometres for those in east Lawrencetown, and that’s a big safety concern for many in the community.

The road has already been closed on a number of occasions during storms, including a three-day period in March 2018.

“In the past number of years we’ve had a number of wash outs of the road,” said Ruzgys. “They are becoming quite common.”

And there are concerns they will only become more common with climate change and the rising sea level.

“A road alignment is really the only long-term solution that addresses protection of the road and requirements of the stakeholders,” said Ruzgys, referring to community members, those who use the park, beach and trail, and surfers..

1:37 Volunteers refurbish Lawrencetown Beach House

The Department of Transportation says they are reviewing options with an engineering consultant and with the Department of Lands and Forestry to mitigate effects of storms on infrastructure at Lawrencetown Beach.

While no decision has been made, they are considering two options: road realignment and building a seawall.

While Ruzgys says a seawall would be effective, he worries about the impact to the area.

“Basically that structure would eliminate the sand beach at the west end of Lawrencetown Beach and either eliminate or highly limit coastal access, to the headland and the beach itself, and the break that surfers use.”

Hendsbee says he is in communication with the Department of Transportation to push for road realignment and the coastal access committee is meeting with the department later this month to discuss options.