By Donald Wittkowski
Construction resumes this week on the next phase of a multiyear project that will turn the low-lying Sea Isle Boulevard into a highway, literally.
The $12.7 million overhaul will raise the road by 4.5 feet to create a higher and drier storm evacuation route between Sea Isle City and the northbound entrance of the Garden State Parkway.
Plans call for relocating the roadway onto what is now a mountainous pile of dirt that is about 1.7 miles long. The massive dirt berm is currently tucked behind concrete construction barriers on the north side of the road.
The construction contractor must remove excess dirt from the berm before paving is done on top of it to build the elevated roadway, explained Cape May County Engineer Dale Foster.
Traffic will be shifted to the higher lanes by Jan. 1, Foster said.
Access will continue on the boulevard during construction. There will be one lane open in each direction, the same as now, Foster said.
This phase of construction will create a temporary roadway for the boulevard. The last phase, to come later, will include the final configuration for the new road, Foster said.
Motorists currently must navigate along narrow lanes because construction barriers have squeezed the roadway. Paul Nolan, an executive with Maser Consulting, an engineering firm overseeing the project for the county, called it a “cattle chute.”
The new roadway will have wider lanes, Foster said. It will also have a higher speed limit, going from the current 40 mph to 50 mph, he said.
Foster and Nolan gave an update on the project Tuesday during Sea Isle’s City Council meeting.
Originally, the entire project was expected to be finished by June 2020, but now the completion date has been moved up to 2019, Foster said. Construction began in 2014.
Sea Isle Mayor Leonard Desiderio quipped that the project has dragged on for so long that he had less gray hair when it started.
Desiderio jokingly alluded to the frustration that local motorists have endured while waiting for construction to finally end.
“Believe me, when it is completed, you’ll be able to wave at me again with five fingers,” Desiderio told the audience at the Council meeting, prompting laughter.
Sea Isle Boulevard is being reconstructed between the Garden State Parkway and the Ludlam Thorofare Bridge. It is the main gateway for Sea Isle and serves as the island’s storm evacuation route.
The phase of construction beginning this week is a multifaceted job. It will include soil excavation, utility work and the installation of new concrete culverts. A new bulkhead will be built to protect the roadway from flooding.
Foster noted that construction will be halted between March 15 and Aug. 15 as part of environmental safeguards to protect the ospreys that nest in the marshlands surrounding Sea Isle Boulevard.
Ospreys, formally known as a “fish hawk,” are one of New Jersey’s largest raptors. They are classified as a threatened species in the state.
Foster said construction is prohibited within 1,000 feet of Osprey nests between March 15 and Aug. 15. The construction ban those months is one of the biggest reasons the boulevard project has taken so long, he stated.
The boulevard project also includes features to protect diamondback terrapins during their summer nesting season.
Wire fencing will be installed to prevent the turtles from venturing on the roadway and being crushed by cars. However, culverts built underneath the road will provide a safe route for the diamondbacks as they make their way out of the marshlands to nest in sandy soil.
