Managed Retreat

Cape Cod is vulnerable to coastal hazards including erosion, coastal storm flooding, and sea level rise due to its unique geography. Flooding is a regular event on several road segments during extreme high tides, and many more segments are flooded during storm events. Communities are identifying vulnerable roads and considering options including, in some cases, the relocation or abandonment of a road segment. Also known as “managed retreat,” the purposeful, coordinated movement of infrastructure (e.g. roads and road segments) out of the path of coastal hazards poses many challenges for neighborhoods and communities.

The Managed Retreat StoryMap is an education and communication tool intended to highlight the vulnerability of low-lying roads, provide adaptation strategies, and facilitate conversations around coastal resiliency. The outreach section focuses on best practices in environmental messaging, recommended talking points for town staff and planners managing the transportation planning process, and links to a more comprehensive communications framework that was created to support outreach with stakeholders.