Clarification on Apple Street “Flooding”, from a Resident

To the Editor,

I am writing to point out a misleading statement attributed to engineers in your article (“Moulton Warns of Local Danger From Federal Emergency Funding Cuts,” Manchester Cricket, Aug. 29) about FEMA funding cuts that could stall important infrastructure projects in Essex and Manchester. Such cuts are concerning and disappointing, to be sure.
The statement with which I take issue refers to the Causeway, which floods regularly in certain storm and tide conditions, and goes on to say the only other road through town is Apple Street, "which floods regularly." Not so! This is misleading if not erroneous. The last time Apple Street was closed due to flooding was in the freak storm plus high tide of 2018, and the time before that, according to a town official, was in the 1970s.
We Essexians who defeated the misguided and oversized roadway project a couple years back (one that would have turned this scenic road into a highway exit ramp) kept pointing this out, but proponents of the project harped on with their scare tactic.
This is not to say that Apple Street doesn't occasionally take on water. Often during storms, a minor amount of runoff—an inch or two by my dog-walking layperson's estimate—collects in one spot where the drains need to be cleared by the DPW before winter storms hit. The typical amount of puddling doesn't stop vehicles from breaking the speed limit as usual, and it clears itself up within a couple of hours. Nor am I suggesting that Apple Street wouldn't benefit from a right-size improvement to, say, the culvert or the bridge, improvements that respect the character of this designated scenic road.
Climate change and sea-rise are real, and come 2070, I hope Essex and other coastal towns will be prepared and safe. I especially hope the Causeway project will move forward to ensure that this essential regional artery remains viable.
Janet Carlson
Essex