Thanks! I'm most interested in the far southern end- Norfolk, Virginia to Currituck, NC. The roads that Google Maps puts bicycles on appear to be narrow with no shoulder at all, I'm hoping that ACA has some secret route that is more bike-friendly.
Av -
The geography and geology dictate the road network.
Most of the Delmarva / Carolina coast is a series of drowned river valleys and lowland swamps.
Most often you have a slightly higher ridge or hummock (hammock in regional dialect)
that is like a tree trunk with smaller branches leading out to various coastal hamlets.
So a single road follows the ridge line - with dead-end brach roads.
Any other through road would go through swampland and be very expensive to build.
This was fine when there was almost no traffic -
But will all the development, traffic has gotten to be a problem.
And there are not many good alternatives out there.
Wetland habitats have been so thoroughly destroyed over the past century.
If someone from 1921 saw what we have done to the coast they would be shocked.
Vacation homes, golf courses, hotels, restaurants - and a whole lot of roads, too.
Many of the smaller coastal communitiees didn't have land connections until after WWII.
<<<>>>
It would be nice if VA & NC did, at least, provide a shoulder for these roads.
Write 'em and let them know.
