Proposed scenic parkway would link the IBX

They're still not as prevalent as the "OBX" stickers, but you're starting to see more and more "IBX" stickers -- honoring the increasingly-popular Inner Banks of North Carolina.

A proposed $185 million scenic parkway would link the IBX and allow for people to better enjoy them.

A new term relative to its Outer Banks counterpart, the “Inner Banks” were loosely defined in the Plymouth presentation as the “western areas of the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds,” including the banks of the Chowan, Roanoke, Pamlico and Neuse rivers[, according to the Washington Daily News].

A scenic parkway, such as the Blue Ridge Parkway, is defined as a two-lane road separated from private land upon which a constant speed is maintained, by natural land, according to the presentation.

The proposed parkway will stretch from N.C. Highway 158 near Gatesville to N.C. Highway 70 near Havelock with a speed limit of 55 throughout, and will predominately use existing state highways 32, 45 and 306. The parkway would, however, bypass towns along its path, including Plymouth and Bath.

This idea has legs -- as long as this type of parkway does not impede on the fragile environment that already exists.