The site restoration and stormwater abatement project at the end of Louse Point Road in Springs has been completed as of mid-November — well in advance of the projected time frame when work began early that month.
At Tuesday’s work session at Town Hall, officers of the town’s Natural Resources Department detailed the work undertaken to restore the parking area at the popular viewing spot, a project paid for by community preservation fund money pegged to water quality improvement. The focus was on addressing erosion runoff problems on the road, which ends at the inlet leading into Accabonac Harbor.
The project made good on numerous promised improvements to the parking area: Asphalt there was replaced with crushed-quartz gravel, the parking lot was regraded and a berm installed to direct stormwater, pavement that was overhanging the dune area because of erosion was removed and that area was restored, and the area was populated with native plants.
The improvements also made for easier access to walking paths to reach the point.
“We apologize for any temporary closures,” the town noted on a web portal dedicated to the upgrade, adding that the lot would be reopened to the public this month. News reports from early November had suggested that the work wouldn’t be completed until springtime.
The problems at Louse Point, said Mellissa Winslow, senior environmental analyst with the Natural Resources Department, were brought to the town’s attention by residents there who pointed out that “stormwater runoff was causing erosion of the dune near the inlet. The goal was to maintain the character” of Louse Point, “while reducing stormwater and erosion.”
