Roadwork to begin on Ocean Pearl Road

After several years of effort and regulatory hurdles, it appears that the first efforts in maintaining and straightening the roads in the off road 4x4 area of Carova are finally getting underway. I applaud the County's willingness to maintain these roads at no direct expense to the property owners...and coming in under budget for Phase I. See the recent article below.

Carova sand road repairs coming

By Cindy Beamon
The Daily Advance
Sunday, February 5, 2012

CAROVA — Work may begin soon on a sand road in Carova riddled with potholes, some big enough to swamp a truck.

The county has accepted a $123,000 bid for repairs to Ocean Pearl Road, a three-mile sand road running behind the dunes at the beach resort.

The project will begin at Wild Horse Estates and continue north to the Virginia state line. Work could begin in two to three weeks and be completed in a few months, said Commissioner Vance Aydlett.

County officials say the road improvements are needed so that fire, rescue and law enforcement vehicles can access homes and vacation rentals on the off-road beaches.

Residents have complained that vehicles risk losing their transmissions in some of the big dips.

The work includes filling in potholes with sand from high-ground shoulders at the road’s southern end. Shallow swales will be dug on each side for drainage.

“It’s going to make a major difference, I believe,” Aydlett said.

Initially, the county had planned a deeper drainage system to prevent possible road flooding. That plan was rejected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers because of the potential impact on wetlands.

One section of the road south of Wild Horse Estates in North Swan Beach will not be repaired because the Corps has determined it is mostly wetlands.

It appears there may be some money left over for a little extra road work nearby.

The low bid for the project was half of what the county had budgeted. The county will need to subtract its cost for re-designing the project, but there should be some money left over, Aydlett said. The Carova Beach Roads Service District could opt to use that money to repair some of the east-west roads that connect to Ocean Pearl, said Aydlett.

Randall Spencer said he and fellow members of the Carova Beach Roads Service District will be deciding which roads will take top priority.

“We’ll be trying to find out what is the next worst road. We have a lot of choices,” Spencer said.

Aydlett said he has sought repairs for Ocean Pearl Road since being elected in 2008. The first step was creating the service district that recommended improvements to Ocean Pearl Road as the “main north-south road through Carova.”

Plans to improve the road have run into several snags — first how to fund the improvements and later over the Corps’ objections.