Permanent improvements for Edgewater Club Rd. on hold

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Nearly a year after flooding kept hundreds of people on a New Hanover County Road from getting in or out, residents are still waiting on a fix.

Several days of heavy rain last October, had Edgewater Club Road in northern New Hanover County under water.

It kept hundreds of people like Jim Huene stuck inside.

“If you had a truck with four-wheel drive, you could get through the water,” Huene said. “If you had a car, you were stuck.”

He said this same thing happened in the ’90s.

“Same spot, same issues,” Huene said.

He said the only difference was how it was handled.

“They came in almost immediately and dumped the rocks on the roads, and we were able to get in and out, but this time they had to discuss it for four or five days before they took care of it,” Huene said.

This year, the DOT and New Hanover County commissioners approved a permanent project to elevate the road. It was set to begin in march.

“We were very happy to hear that, to know that it was finally going to be taken care of,” Huene said.

Now though, DOT spokesman Brian Rick said a widening and drainage project for the new Porters Neck Elementary School must be done first.

“It just seems like the county doesn’t care about our issue here,” Huene said.”

Rick said the school’s new drainage outlet should help if heavy rain comes before the improvement project is actually completed by next summer. Meanwhile, Huene and his neighbors wait and worry.

“I just hope the county acts responsibly as well as the DOT, and that they finally resolve the issue, because they’re making a huge investment in the school, and if you can’t get in and out of the school, then that’s another issue,” Huene said.

Rick said they have been coordinating these two projects together. He said the roadway will be completed prior to the school construction being completed, which is set for the summer of 2017.

Rick said the $765,000 for the project has already been approved.