A $627,000 resiliency project awarded to Orleans County, through the State’s Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative (REDI) has been completed. The Point Breeze Boat Launch is located near the mouth of Oak Orchard Creek, within Oak Orchard Harbor, in the Town of Carlton. During the historic flooding of 2019, the boat ramp became submerged, preventing access to the floating docks, and forcing the boat launch to be closed. The completed project will mitigate future flooding of the Point Breeze Boat Launch, ensuring recreational boaters have continued access to the dock system and to local businesses and popular tourist attractions. The boat launch, which was closed to the public during construction, is now open for boaters.
“The Department of State continues to work tirelessly to revitalize the waterfront and strengthen the resiliency of the Lake Ontario communities. Maintaining resident and visitor access to the waterfront for recreational activities at this popular attraction in the Town of Carlton is critical,” said Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez. “The completion of the Point Breeze Boat Launch project will help mitigate future flooding and this incredible asset will be able to continue its role of bolstering tourism and economic activity.”
Resiliency measures implemented in this project included installation of new boat ramp and abutment above high water level; sloping of roadway to the new boat ramp; and regrading the remaining portion of roadway.
Two additional REDI projects in the town of Carlton were completed last year, which included shoreline stabilization along Lakeshore Road, and the construction of a new access road and shoreline protection along Lakeside Park Road.
Orleans County Legislature Chairman Lynn Johnson said, “With Oak Orchard Creek and Lake Ontario being two of Orleans County’s main tourist attractions for fishing and recreational boating, it was very important to us to build a more resilient boat launch that maintained safe access to these waterways during high water events. The docks of our previous boat launch facility were overtopped during the high-water events of 2017 and 2019. Those high-water events restricted safe access to the docks to launch boats. Our new facility will allow unrestricted safe access to Oak Orchard Creek and Lake Ontario for our boating community. We thank the Governor and the REDI Commission for their support as we continue to make our waterfront infrastructure more resilient to future high-water events.”
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