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Hatteras to get another new bridge ... this one sucks.

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vkngktr
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Re: Hatteras to get another new bridge......this one sucks.

Postby vkngktr » Fri May 27, 2016 9:11 pm

Laughingman wrote:
FLandOBX wrote: And for everyone who thinks the new bridge will take away some huge area of existing kite access, kiteboarding has been prohibited in the Pea Island Refuge for years. It's just the Mirlo Beach soundfront houses that are losing immediate access, and that's not a large area at all.
My understanding is.....Kiting has been banned 150m from the power lines across all of OBX. Kiting to or from the new inlet was completely legal provided you did not come within 150m of the lines at the boat launch. The area north of that boat launch is where kiting was banned... as was everything else except bird watching.
And the area in front of the Mirlo beach is actually quite big considering the amount of usable sound access on OBX... losing 1.5km of houses with good launch is pretty significant imho.
Nope. Kiting is prohibited anywhere within the Pea Island NWR. Has always been but until the last few years, and 'kite in the wires episodes' enforcement was lax.
As a homeowner in Frisco I am pleased with the design of the bridge. Rebuilding the dunes is a constant project between Oregon Inlet and Mirlo Beach. In spite of the almost Herculean efforts to keep the dunes and road intact it's a losing battle. Any good NE closes the road down. As has been said a few homes will most likely suffer because of it but the needs of the many outweigh the wants of the few. And besides causeways are really cool to drive on.

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Re: Hatteras to get another new bridge......this one sucks.

Postby POACHER » Fri May 27, 2016 9:43 pm

FLandOBX wrote:Poacher, talk to some real estate brokers on the island about the trend of real estate values. No one is buying in Mirlo Beach now (and only a fool would have bought there during the past 4-5 years). The values in Mirlo have been and are continuing to tank. Same as the oceanside houses without dune protection south of S-turns.
You may be right......

The Sentinel property is down to $259,000. I remember seeing it for a lot more than that.
http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Ro ... ect/15_zm/

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Re: Hatteras to get another new bridge......this one sucks.

Postby FLandOBX » Fri May 27, 2016 10:07 pm

Vkngktr is correct. Kiting is prohibited throughout the Pea Island Refuge. But enforcement was lax south of the New Inlet boat ramp for years, and downwinders from the Tri-Villages to New Inlet were commonplace (and very nice). But NPS enforcement has increased in recent years (as has the staging of equipment for Hwy 12/Temp Bridge/dunes work at the New Inlet ramp).

I just measured the distance along Hwy 12 from the northern boundary of Mirlo Beach in Rodanthe to the ferry docks at the Rodanthe Community Center using the trip odometer in my car. This is roughly equivalent to the amount of soundside kite access that will be lost to the new bridge. Keep in mind that Hatteras Island is 50 miles (80 km) long. The area that will be impacted by the new bridge is 0.7 miles (1.1 km).

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Re: Hatteras to get another new bridge......this one sucks.

Postby Westozzy » Sat May 28, 2016 12:15 am

So these bird lovers would rather have tons of concrete and steel running through and anchored to a pristine seabed... Just about sums up what I feel about these vested interest hippy groups.

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Re: Hatteras to get another new bridge......this one sucks.

Postby vkngktr » Sat May 28, 2016 12:48 am

Westozzy wrote:So these bird lovers would rather have tons of concrete and steel running through and anchored to a pristine seabed... Just about sums up what I feel about these vested interest hippy groups.
It much more complicated than just bird lovers having their way. Access by ferry is unrealistic and very damaging to the 'pristine' sea bed(which it's not).always filling in the dunes, replacing and repaving the road creates a whole host of issues. Sand gets washed into the inlet requiring dredging, blacktop litters the beach, and access is still restricted just to name a few.

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Re: Hatteras to get another new bridge......this one sucks.

Postby toyletbowl » Sat May 28, 2016 12:52 am

FLandOBX wrote:Poacher, talk to some real estate brokers on the island about the trend of real estate values. No one is buying in Mirlo Beach now (and only a fool would have bought there during the past 4-5 years). The values in Mirlo have been and are continuing to tank. Same as the oceanside houses without dune protection south of S-turns.

However, on more secure portions of the island, the values started to trend upwards once the new bridge was announced (again, the certainty of dependable access is the key to unlocking previously sluggish real estate values). You can still get a good buy on Hatteras because the inventory backlog is significant, but the trend in values is upwards.

And for everyone who thinks the new bridge will take away some huge area of existing kite access, kiteboarding has been prohibited in the Pea Island Refuge for years. It's just the Mirlo Beach soundfront houses that are losing immediate access, and that's not a large area at all.
So those houses along the road are already devalued, so it makes logical sense to put the bridge there.

The only reason the houses along the sound are devalued is the RE agents had to disclose that there could be a bridge put in on the sound. So any house devalued along the sound was done so due to RE agents knowing this was possible for many years. I looked at buying one of those houses. The agent had to disclose the possibility of the bridge being in the sound. This was years ago.

Recently it was thought the bridge would be along the highway and those houses in Mirlo ON the sound would increased in value. Now, it looks like it's back to the bridge on the sound.

About your other comment on kiting in Pea Island. Very few actually ride IN there, but many will ride UP there and even Real, Kitty Hawk and others do jet ski lessons up there when it blows NE. It looks like the bridge is going to out pretty far and might disrupt any NE riding up there.

It's the ONLY area that get's clean sound wind on a NNE or NE.

For sure a new bridge is needed.

Where it should go is the question.

Bob
http://www.kiteridersllc.com
Last edited by toyletbowl on Sat May 28, 2016 3:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Hatteras to get another new bridge......this one sucks.

Postby CaptainArgh » Sat May 28, 2016 2:32 am

Mirlo Beach is devalued, but is not broken down. The drop in value is because everyone knows this bridge issue was looming. Who wants to buy soundside property when they'll be looking at a highway instead of a sunset?

An unscientific count of houses on Google Maps shows 80 soundside homes with 31 of them being soundfront or 1 back. Not to mention the vacant lots bought as investments. These are not downtrodden homes. These are beautiful soundside homes that owners have put a lot of work into developing, many with kiters as a primary source of rental income. Yes, the oceanside takes a beating and those waterfront homes are dropping into the sea, but the community as a whole is very healthy.

You talk about the needs of the many (all the homes further south) outweighing the needs of the few (these 80 soundside homes) and I don't think about that. I think about the conservationists who blocked the much cheaper alternative of a bridge built over the current road. They dug their feet in on this issue for some birds with no consideration for those 80 homeowners.

So yes, I can see where any resolution is better than none at all for everyone south. AND of course all the businesses need the road open to bring tourists in and send deliveries out. But it's still a shit call.

And finally, for all you folks saying it's perfectly fine to ride in a box (between land and the bridge).... whaaaaaat the fuuuuuuck are you talking about? People don't drive to Hatteras to kite in a small boxed off area. We can do that at home. You come to Hatteras for the huge expanse of the sound (and the ocean) and knowing that you can start or end an epic downwinder from your rental property. You don't come there to kite in a f*cking box.

On the upside, Mirlo beach will become less expensive fisherman rentals and affordable housing for year round residents. I bet you won't find any members of the Audubon society renting here. They want clear views of the water, without any highway noise to scare the birds. :roll:

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Re: Hatteras to get another new bridge......this one sucks.

Postby FLandOBX » Sat May 28, 2016 1:16 pm

toyletbowl wrote:About your other comment on kiting in Pea Island. Very few actually ride IN there, but many will ride UP there and even Real, Kitty Hawk and others do jet ski lessons up there when it blows NE. It looks like the bridge is going to out pretty far and might disrupt any NE riding up there.

It's the ONLY area that get's clean sound wind on a NNE or NE.
If you had said it's the "ONLY area in the Tri-Villages" that gets clean soundside NE wind, Bob, I might agree with you. Yes, KHK and REAL shuttle students up there on jet skis and teach on "the flats" on NNE or NE wind, but it's hardly clean wind. They go there because it's the best wind within reasonable jet ski range from their shops. As you no doubt know, the best NNE and NE wind on the soundside is at Frisco (the washout or Frisco Woods). I routinely drive from Rodanthe to Frisco to get really good clean NE wind on soundside. Yes it's a hike, but a 45 minute drive mostly through National Seashore to get really nice clean wind doesn't bother me.

I agree that the bridge will probably change or eliminate any riding that now occurs in the flats around Mirlo Beach. The tourists who are accustomed to renting at Mirlo and kiting from their houses will need to come up with another plan. There are plenty of options. In the final analysis, i think even the owners of the homes in Mirlo Beach would agree that a definite plan for dependable access is better than the state of limbo and uncertainty that has surrounded this issue for many years.

As an aside, if I owned property in Mirlo, I'd be thinking creatively about my investment...... What will happen to the existing Hwy 12 right-of-way? Might there be opportunities to market my property to birders, kayakers, SUPers, or fat tire bicyclists? I know that the area will still be attractive to surfers, and the new traffic pattern will make it super easy to park up there and to cross over to the oceanside. Plus Mirlo will become the first spot where incoming traffic hits the island, so there should be some new opportunities there for creative, out-of-the-box, positive people. I don't know the answers to all those questions, but if I owned in Mirlo, I'd be doing my homework.

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Re: Hatteras to get another new bridge......this one sucks.

Postby Westozzy » Sat May 28, 2016 1:57 pm

Someone of influence already has trust me ....

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Re: Hatteras to get another new bridge......this one sucks.

Postby haroldblakney » Sat May 28, 2016 2:30 pm

kooshball wrote:that bridge increases safety for everyone regarding ambulance service in poor weather and will get you to Avon where you can rent sound front with kite launch access.
unless you have an accident on the bridge like they did on the bonner bridge. fire engines can come to the rescue but have to back up 3 miles to turn around. meanwhile all traffic is blocked until everyone backs up to clear the incident. Just like the Santee bridge in SC with accidents and that is a major I95 route. Spent 2 hours in line on that once, glad I didnt have to pee :-) BUT in places on 12 a "causeway" is warranted. Like Fla Keys and it works. There is just so much "viable" existing road in place, just need some short causeways, BUT not in the "allowed" easements :-(. OH, and once they have their 17 mile long bridge bypassing the refuge, DOT will still have to maintain the existing road so the people can get to the refuge to go bird watching. nice


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