By Donald Wittkowski
Sea Isle City’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” is no longer a nightmare for motorists.
Now in its fourth year of construction, the $12.7 million overhaul of Sea Isle Boulevard is turning the beach town’s main entryway into an elevated road that will protect motorists from even severe coastal flooding.
Frustrated with the slow pace of the project in the past two years, Sea Isle Mayor Leonard Desiderio had ridiculed it as the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” but he is now taking a different view.
“The Boulevard of Broken Dreams is moving along,” Desiderio said after announcing during Tuesday’s City Council meeting that the project is now scheduled to be completed by Christmas, a full year ahead of schedule.
Cape May County, which oversees the project, is rebuilding a 1.7-mile stretch of the boulevard from the Garden State Parkway’s Exit 17 entrance ramp to the bridge entering Sea Isle. The project includes a new ramp that connects the boulevard with the northbound lanes of the parkway.
Although a modern roadway protected from flooding is being created, the lengthy project has tested the patience of motorists, elected officials and the business community. Desiderio said drivers have had to endure “grueling years” of construction.
“When that project started, I was taller, had more hair and had less gray,” the mayor joked in remarks to the Council members.
However, the prospect of completing the final phase of construction a year early represents a major milestone, Desiderio noted.
“In the end, it will all be worth it,” he said.
The road is being raised by 4.5 feet to elevate it above the 100-year flood level, creating a safer evacuation route off the low-lying barrier island in fierce storms.
The first part of Sea Isle Boulevard was raised last year. Work has resumed for the fall on raising the remaining half of the road, now tucked behind concrete construction barriers.
Construction crews must even out the mountainous mounds of dirt that serve as the foundation for the elevated road. Then they will lay down a fresh layer of asphalt.
The dirt has been there since last year, but needed time to settle to create a firm road bed. The settling process occurred much faster for the second half of the road, which has speeded up construction, Desiderio explained.
Work on the multifaceted project is being done in stages to accommodate the crush of summertime tourist traffic as well as the nesting season for the migratory osprey shorebirds.
Environmental permits for the project prohibited construction within 1,000 feet of the osprey nests from March 15 to Aug. 15. Ospreys are classified by the state as a threatened species of bird. But with the ospreys and summer tourists now gone, work has resumed on the road project for fall and winter.
The new road will not only be higher, but will be wider than the cramped lanes on the old part of the boulevard. During peak travel times in the busy summer tourism season, it is not uncommon for traffic to get backed up heading into town.
Although progress is being made on Sea Isle Boulevard, local motorists must cope with the eight-month shutdown of the Townsends Inlet Bridge connecting Sea Isle with Avalon. The bridge closed on Sept. 17 and will not reopen until May 22, 2019, during an $8.6 million reconstruction to replace seven deteriorated spans.
Desiderio told Council during Tuesday’s meeting that Sea Isle will receive updates from the county twice a month on the bridge project and will share them with the public.
The bridge closure has severed a direct link between Sea Isle and Avalon, forcing motorists to take a circuitous detour using the Garden State Parkway or Route 9 for trips between both towns.
Toni Grdinich, a resident of Sea Isle’s Townsends Inlet section, urged the city to make greater use of social media to warn motorists of road construction and flooding.
Now that the Townsends Inlet Bridge is closed, Grdinich said she has to drive 20 miles roundtrip to drop off her son, Luka, in Avalon to catch his bus to St. Augustine Prep, a private school in Buena Vista Township, Atlantic County.
“I leave one way and it’s an adventure how I’m going to get back home,” Grdinich told City Council of the detours she has encountered for the bridge closure and road construction.
