Residents and businesses along Queens Creek in Mathews County are worried about the creek’s future.

The U.S. Coast Guard recently changed all the aids to navigation in the creek from channel markers to warning markers, and now the Coast Guard is proposing removing even the warning markers and leaving boaters on their own to navigate the long, narrow channel.

Mathews County’s representative in Congress is also among those concerned about plans to remove the markers, and he indicated that he intends to write the Coast Guard this week to weigh in on the matter.

Lt. Cmdr. Tiffany Johnson, waterways management officer for the 5th Coast Guard District, released a statement through Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer 2nd Class Nate Littlejohn saying that shoaling in the creek is preventing Coast Guard service vessels from safely accessing the creek to reposition the aids. Johnson said that leaving the aids in place may be misleading and therefore more dangerous than having no a...