This will come as a surprise to no one who has traveled Beach Road in Vineyard Haven on a regular basis, but Thursday night and Friday morning’s storm caused flooding on Beach Road, particularly in the areas of The Times building and Five Corners.
Massachusetts Department of Transportation is finishing up a reconstruction project of the road and its sidewalks that will do nothing about the drainage issues.
According to the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, about 1.4 inches of rain fell overnight on the Island.
As sea level rises it’s going to get worse. There was just a perfect opportunity to address this long-standing problem as Beach Road was being rebuilt. It wasn’t, and it’s not the State’s fault. It would seem that an automatic high-volume pumping system could help at least in the short run.