Walking west on East Chop Drive on a tranquil spring morning, the only indication of trouble is a short metal gate with a spray-painted detour sign. The pavement is remarkably free of potholes and the two-lane road appears intact as far as the eye can see.
The succession of storms that have pounded the Island this winter have taken their toll in Oak Bluffs, where the town says massive repairs are needed to stabilize the damaged East Chop area.
Officials said the already-weakened East Chop Drive, bluff and beach have sustained significant damage in the past few months, beginning with Hurricane Sandy in October and continuing through a nearly-three-day storm last week.
The Oak Bluffs highway department has closed the ocean side lane of East Chop Drive from Brewster avenue to Munroe avenue due to slumping caused by Hurricane Sandy. The highway department is working on a short term and long term solution, and engineers are working on an immediate plan to stabilize the slumping areas on the bluff.
Oak Bluffs town officials have entered negotiations with the East Chop Association to take ownership of the coastal bluff on scenic East Chop Drive, following a report which concluded the slope is in danger of imminent failure.
The takeover plan is still in the very early stages, but those on both sides of the negotiations believe transferring ownership of the East Chop bluff to the town is the only way to secure state and federal funding for repairs of the fragile coastal bank.
An engineering report examining the stability of scenic East Chop Drive in Oak Bluffs concludes the fragile coastal slope is extremely unstable and showing signs of distress and imminent failure.
The eight-page draft report from the firm of Stearns and Wheler recommends that the town repair the bluff as quickly as possible by both reshaping the coastal bank and installing stabilizing materials such as a concrete block system, heavy riprap, sheet piling or a specially designed mechanically stabilized earth wall.
The town of Oak Bluffs has received a $102,000 state grant that will be used for improvements at East Chop Drive, which has been plagued by coastal erosion and drainage problems in recent years.
The money will be used to install a modified gravel wetland system along the road to reduce untreated storm water that discharges into the town harbor. The improvements are also aimed at eliminating a large puddle that often occurs near the East Chop Beach Club after storms.
