BERKELEY – An accessway will be constructed to allow residents of a shore neighborhood to circumvent flooding.
The intersection of East Longport and Narragansette avenues is the worst part of flooding that impacts a neighborhood east of Route 9 and near lagoons of the Toms River. The flooding happens even when it’s not raining, and locals have said that the water is coming up through the drains.
The neighborhood is in a low-lying area, which makes it difficult to fix the problem. Engineers have said if they raise the roadway, it will just push the water off into peoples’ yards, and potentially flood their homes.
The solution to the flooding hasn’t been worked out yet, but township officials are creating a way for residents to drive around the flooding. There will be an access road through two properties that will connect Bayview Avenue to East Longport Avenue.
During the most recent Township Council meeting, the council voted to create an easement on Block 1183, Lot 4131, owned by the Berkeley Township Sewerage Authority, and another one at Block 1217, Lot 4141, owned by Domenico Lettini. These were both introductions of ordinances. Ordinances are introduced during one meeting, and then finalized after a public hearing at the following meeting. The council also advertised for a contractor to make the build the roadway.
This will be an emergency road for residents to get through, Township Business Administrator John Camera said.
Councilman James Byrnes said that this is the first property in Berkeley Township. West of this property is Ocean Gate.
Residents have said that they sometimes get a foot of water on the streets. This prevents school buses from going through. People have missed medical appointments because they can’t leave their street.
They are concerned that a combination of a rising water table and other environmental factors means that instead of water draining from the road to local bodies of water, the opposite is happening. Some have noted that the water in the streets is sometimes saltwater. What’s even worse is when the water lingers in the winter and freezes over.
Shore areas are prone to flooding due to their location. However, this is becoming a more common occurrence in areas like the Normandy Beach section of Toms River and Brick. Some residents are reporting that areas are flooding frequently in recent years that never flooded before.
Residents have been asking the governing body for action for more than a year.
Longport resident Donna Amon thanked Mayor Carmen Amato, attorney Lauren Staiger, and the council, especially Councilman Byrnes. “I know it’s not done yet but I wanted to thank you for all your help.”
The intersection is in Ocean Gate and the residents are mostly in Berkeley. The Berkeley residents literally drive out of their streets, go through Ocean Gate and then back into Berkeley to get to Route 9. Their only way in or out is through the area that floods.
Also, these are county roads that are flooding. So, that means the county has to approve work being done.
There are a lot of strategies in play. One involves repaving roads in Berkeley, higher in the center, so that water diverts off the sides.
Ocean Gate and Berkeley have the same engineer, so he has been working with both towns to come up with a plan.
