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County Road 48 Washout – the last 17 feet

2006: County Road 48

2006: County Road 48

By Lynn Laskos

Old timers know it as Arshamomaque Cove, the Army Corp or Engineers named it Hashamomuck Cove.  Whichever you choose to call it, it is a strip of LI Sound front property that goes from Southold Town Beach to the Sound View Inn on County Road 48 in Southold.

Whether it is Arshamomaque or Hashamomuck, homes in this area are now the only buffer to County Road 48 and severe erosion has left these homes perilously close to falling into the Long Island Sound and washing out County Road 48. When another Nor’easter or Hurricane strikes the East End of Long Island it will not only wash out these homes, but also takes County Road 48 with it.  In December,’94 one house was taken by the Long Island Sound.  In February 2006, a storm broke through an unprotected lot and water surged to within 20 feet of Route 48 and in October 2009, Long Island Sound came within 17 feet of County Road 48 in 6 areas.

Why should you care? If County Road 48 washes out, there would be a severe health hazard to the residents of the East End: Gas services could rupture with all the erosion and crashing debris. Water mains could rupture. Emergency vehicles would have to detour to Route 25 and could lose valuable time, access to Eastern Long Island Hospital would be compromised, and Fire and Police Departments would be paralyzed. Route 25 could also be impassable as it was during Hurricane Carol in 1954.  The entire East End would be isolated. Local ferry services would be shut down. Greenport commercial district would cease to operate. Senior residents at Peconic Landing and nursing homes along the Route 48 corridor would have no access to services.

What is being done? To prevent the loss of these homes as well as County Road 48 – one of only two east/west roadways on the North Fork – the Army Corp of Engineers has proposed a 905(b) feasibility study to determine what measures can be taken to reduce erosion and restore the coastline not just in the area of Hashamomuck Cove, but most of Southold Town. While understanding that the state faces a multi-billion dollar deficit, the project is necessary to protect the infrastructure of Suffolk County.  The loss of County Road 48 would leave just one east/west road on the North Fork and would likely result in the loss of electricity and gas service to a large areas of eastern tip of Long Island as these services run along this County roadway.  Loss of the road would also severely impede traffic to the Village of Greenport, Eastern Long Island Hospital, the Cross Sound Ferry, and two senior citizen care facilities. 

First to respond to a group of homeowners who joined forces to contact all levels of Government to address these concerns was County Legislator Ed Romaine in April, 2006 and who has worked closely with the homeowners to contact other levels of government.

Here’s a July 2006 News report about the issue, courtesy of News 12:

Senator Schumer and Congressman Bishop secured $100,000 funding to allow the Army Corp of Engineers to enter into a Reconnaissance study.  In June 2008, the Army Corp of Engineers completed and issued “Hashamomuck Cove, Southold, New York 905B Reconnaissance Study.”  This study covers Mattituck to Orient Point and has identified 4 hot spots.

The next step is the Feasibility stage with the Army Corp of Engineers to develop a suitable and effective plan to alleviate the obvious danger.  Federal monetary commitment has been secured by Senator Schumer and Congressman Bishop.  County monetary commitment secured by Legislator Edward Romaine and County Executive Steve Levy.  There is a Southold Town commitment by Supervisor Scott Russell.

All levels of commitment have been received except for NY State funding. Legislator Romaine has asked Governor Paterson to commit his support to this project.  He also asked Senator LaValle and Assemblyman Alessi for their support.   Legislator Ed Romaine’s letter dated January 26, 2010 to Governor Paterson is below:

Letter from Leg. Ed Romaine to Gov. Paterson, Jan 26, 2010

Letter from Leg. Ed Romaine to Gov. Paterson, Jan 26, 2010

Click here to read the complete letter. As this really affects all of us, please support these efforts.  And here’s hoping we’ll continue to have a County Road 48 in the future!

If you have a question about the issue or wish to volunteer, or email your support, you can contact the writer at hashamomuckcovegroup [at] aol.com.  They would also be happy to answer any questions emailed to them.

And below, more photos of the area of concern:

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