Written by: Ryan Abrams, Boone Boone presents itself as a town that is growing, modernizing, and adapting. New apartment buildings rise near campus and along key corridors. Student-oriented developments expand upward and outward. Parking decks, large institutional buildings, and dense multifamily projects continue to reshape the landscape. On the surface, this looks like prosperity and momentum. But beneath that visible growth lies a much older, quieter system — stormwater drains, culverts, creeks, and sewer infrastructure that were never designed to handle what is now being built above them. There are efforts underway. The Town of Boone has not ignored infrastructure entirely. A town-wide stormwater inventory has been funded to locate and assess existing drainage assets, though flooding remains a known recurring problem due to Boone’s terrain and stormwater patterns. (Stormwater infrastructure page, Town of Boone). The Howard Street downtown project includes replacement of water and sewer lines and the addition of new stormwater piping. Targeted creek restoration projects aim to stabilize eroding channels and reduce localized flooding. Routine maintenance continues on an aging water and wastewater system. These actions matter. They demonstrate awareness of the problem and provide incremental relief in specific locations. But the uncomfortable truth is that these …
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