Charlestown Beach Road Moves Closer To A Long-term Solution

The RI Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) has denied the Town Council’s request to resurface Charlestown Beach Road along the coastal barrier with asphalt millings.

In a four-page letter dated April 29, 2025, CRMC Executive Director Jeffrey Willis wrote that CRMC’s regulations prohibit this paving activity on a barrier because “the activity proposed would result in adverse impacts to the barrier, the coastal beach, dune, and back barrier marshes.”

Mr. Willis explained that during storms, the coastal barrier “gives up its material and deposits it to the backside of the barrier, allowing it to roll over and migrate inland” and that during storms, “the lagoon [that is, Ninigret Pond] is protected from breaching at various points along its width, minimizing damage.”

He noted that Charlestown Beach has experienced approximately 230 feet of erosion since 1939, and that an additional 70 feet of erosion is predicted at the eastern end of Charlestown Beach Road and 160 feet at the western end by 2050. He went on to write, “Under this scenario and using current erosion trends, the western end of Charlestown Beach Road will be at the High Tide Line by 2050. This means that during a normal high tide, on a normal day, waves could reach the road.” Further, he noted that an increase in sea level by even 1 foot will impact road access during normal high tides.

Mr. Willis wrote that, as he had informed the Town Council in February 2024, “the use of bank run gravel is the preferred method to address access along this road, because a gravel roadway is the least disruptive application other than a natural sand trail to allow for access to existing residences.” 

Mr. Willis also commented further on the specific effects of interfering with the natural process by resurfacing the road:

• The material beneath the road consists of marsh and barrier sand deposits; there is no proper subgrade to handle proper drainage of a resurfaced road. 
• The plowing of overwash sand already diminishes the capacity of the barrier as a buffer for storms. Paving would exacerbate and perpetuate these negative impacts. 
• Increasing impermeability will increase sheet flow and create a tunneling effect for stormwater, resulting in greater flooding and damage to dunes from the back; to residences generally; and to back-barrier marshes.

The science of this dynamic environment has been studied extensively. In 2013 and again in 2014, Dr. Jon Boothroyd, Professor Emeritus of Geosciences at the University of Rhode Island, visited the Town Council to explain the science. His presentation was entitled “Coastal Geologic Hazards and Sea-Level Rise: Climate Change in Rhode Island.” Regarding Charlestown Beach Road, Dr. Boothroyd recommended that sand which washed over the gravel road in storms be allowed to remain in the roadway and that more gravel be placed on top of the sand.

In December 2019, Grover Fugate, who was CRMC’s Executive Director at the time, who oversaw the state’s coastal program, and who was the project manager of CRMC’s Shoreline Change Special Area Management Plan (SAMP), visited the Town Council. The SAMP is a plan about how climate change is impacting Rhode Island’s shoreline and appropriate responses to this threat and the protection of the state’s coastal infrastructure.

Mr. Fugate’s presentation was entitled “RI Shoreline Change: Special Area Management Plan.” Mr. Fugate talked first about sea level rise, storms effects, and erosion—interactions that add to their destructive force.

With the caveat that CRMC’s projections of sea level rise could well change (that is, increase), Mr. Fugate said that sea levels were projected to rise by 2 feet by 2050. Regarding storm effects, he noted that a rise of just 1 foot in sea level jumps the probability of a once-in-100-year storm (the last in Rhode Island being Hurricane Carol in 1954) to once in 50 years; a sea level rise of 2 feet jumps this probability to once in 25 years; and 5 feet would be “like having a once-in-100-year storm once a day.” Erosion happens quickly, he said, giving the example of the erosion of 200 feet of beach in front of the Ocean Mist on Matunuck Beach Road and the expense of defending the road.

Mr. Fugate then described tools that CRMC had developed to assess the risks of damage to structures—risks that cities and towns would do well to consider when planning new infrastructure. He noted that CRMC had changed its regulations “to require a coastal hazard analysis for any new or substantially altered structure within our jurisdiction.”

When complaints about black dust resulting from asphalt millings placed on Charlestown Beach Road beginning in 2019 and requests to pave the road were brought to the Charlestown Town Council, Councilor Virginia Lee, whose career at the RI Sea Grant and the Coastal Resources Center at the University of Rhode Island had spanned 35 years, advised the Council against paving the road because, among other effects, hardening the road would cause beach erosion. The Council concurred.

Town Councils then examined options for solving issues with the road along the coastal barrier:

• In August 2020, the Town Council commissioned a survey of Charlestown Beach Road, including the section along the barrier.
• In August 2021, the Council hired the engineering firm of Fuss & O’Neill to study the road. The firm’s engineers recommended against a milled overlay and instead recommended a full-depth replacement. In December 2021, the Climate Resiliency Commission was formed and the Commission put out an RFP for a cost–benefit analysis of options for the road. RMA Environmental, LLC, was retained to do the analysis.
• In 2022, the Commission recommended that a cost–benefit analysis of options regarding the road be undertaken, and in early 2023, RMA Environmental, LLC, was tasked with the project.
• In January 2024, the Climate Resiliency Commission recommended a full reconstruction of the road with a gravel surface, and RMA presented its report, which contained various options, to the Town Council. RMA’s scientific advice was against a milled overlay. In addition, RMA advised that the portion of the road after Creek Bridge in the area of the Town Beach parking lot needed to be elevated because of issues with flooding and that the issue be addressed, but separately.
• In February 2024, because the Town Council appeared to believe that the town’s expired 2013 maintenance ascent should be renewed by CRMC, it voted to adopt, preliminarily, two options—the option recommended by the Climate Resiliency Commission and an option that it believed would provide a basis for an asphalt surface—and to seek budget funding for engineering, design, and permitting for the two options. It decided the flooding after Creek Bridge would be addressed separately. (It is worth noting that CRMC informed the town in 2024 that the ascent had been given in error.)
• During 2024, the Town Council discussed the maintenance of a gravel road, which it thought would be more extensive than that estimated by RMA, and it continued to pursue a maintenance ascent from CRMC to resurface the road with asphalt millings.
• In 2025, even though it had not received the ascent, $110,000 was included in the 2025/26 budget to resurface the road with millings.

In a well-attended Town Council meeting on May 12, Councilor Carney informed the public of CRMC’s denial and about a discussion she, Councilor Serra, and Town Administrator Allen had had with Mr. Willis that day.

Stating that it would be very expensive to appeal CRMC’s decision because the Town would need to seek a Special Exception to a Prohibited Activity and fulfill the application requirements, Councilor Carney recommended against pursuing an appeal.

Councilor Marr asked the Town Solicitor about an appeal and was advised that the environmental lawyer with whom the town had consulted on the matter did not appear optimistic about the town’s success on appeal.

Councilor Stokes said that he did not see that CRMC wanted to work with the town because it had said no when asked about using a material called geogrid to stabilize the gravel road as recommended by RMA. Councilor Carney pointed out that, even though there had been some discussions with CRMC about that option, the Council had not applied to CRMC for an ascent to do the work.

Councilor Stokes maintained that, because of the traffic generated by its facility at the Breachway, RIDEM should help with the relationship with CRMC and should also contribute to the cost of fixing the road. Councilor Carney said that Mr. Willis had said he had reached out to RIDEM.

Councilor Slom stated that he was not in favor of paving but that something needed to be done. Councilor Stokes then asked the Town Solicitor about applying for an emergency ascent; he was advised that the granting of an emergency ascent was usually related to a storm or like event and that the science may not support the request.

Councilor Carney suggested that to get out of the mess, the first step might be to apply for an ascent to grade and gravel the road so that it would be in passable condition for the summer and then look at a longer-term solution regarding the base of the road.

Several residents commented during the meeting:

• Arthur Fratini, who said he has lived on Charlestown Beach Road and has worked in the construction industry for 40 years, stated that the road was originally gravel and that, in his opinion, a gravel road would stand up well to the traffic currently on the road without a great deal of maintenance. He observed that there had not been a dust problem until the millings were put down and that digging the sand off the road after Sandy had created a void.
• Robert Hess mentioned puddles of goo caused by dust control being applied shortly before the recent rain, and he hoped the dust control would be done correctly. Sandra Pulchalski agreed.
• Frank Glista questioned why the town is not grandfathered because the road had been graded and graveled for years. He was informed that CRMC’s regulations had changed and that the town needs to comply with the current regulations when doing something new.
• Michael Marcelynas stated that covering up the asphalt, because CRMC says it should not be there, made no sense; he wants to see the asphalt removed before applying gravel.

After more discussion about how long it might take to get an ascent and the fact that only $110,000 had been budgeted for work on Charlestown Beach Road, the Town Council voted unanimously to authorize the Town Administrator to apply for an ascent to grade and gravel Charlestown Beach Road.

It appears that, after many years of denying the science on the movement of the coastal barrier and fighting for different kinds of pavement for this section of Charlestown Beach Road, some members of the Town Council have finally relented to follow the advice the town has been consistently given by coastal geologists since at least 2013.