With the construction barriers now gone, the road has a wide-open feel to it and offers expansive views of the surrounding marshlands.
By Donald Wittkowski
Suddenly, the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” has become the “Boulevard to Heaven.”
After four years of headache-inducing construction, the $12.7 million overhaul of Sea Isle Boulevard was completed on Saturday when the second half of the elevated roadway was opened to traffic.
Sea Isle City Mayor Leonard Desiderio, who often ridiculed the project as the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” while construction dragged on during the last two years, celebrated the road’s completion.
“It’s no longer the Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Now, it’s the Boulevard to Heaven,” he exclaimed. “I think it’s beautiful, absolutely beautiful.”
The road has been raised by 4.5 feet to create an elevated evacuation route that will protect motorists from flooding on the low-lying barrier island.
Cape May County Engineer Bob Church explained that the road has been raised above the 100-year flood plain. Statistically, that means there is only a 1 percent chance the road will flood in any year.
The road is now much wider and includes shoulders as a safety measure.
Cape May County, which oversaw the project, rebuilt 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.
The boulevard serves as the main entryway into Sea Isle. Although the reconstructed road remains only one lane in each direction, it is now much wider and includes new shoulders as another safety feature.
Construction began in 2014 and moved along in phases to accommodate the crush of summertime tourist traffic as well as the nesting season of the migratory osprey shorebirds.
The project includes a new entrance ramp to the northbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway.
The first side of the elevated road was completed in December 2017, replacing the old, low-lying version of Sea Isle Boulevard. Construction continued on the other half of the new road throughout 2018.
Construction crews worked at a rapid pace in the past few weeks to pave the other side of the road to get it done before winter’s typically severe weather arrived in full force.
Although the road has new pavement, the contractor will return in the spring to lay a final top coat of asphalt for a smoother surface, Church said.
Most notably, the concrete construction barriers have been removed to create a wide-open feel for drivers. During construction, the barriers had squeezed motorists into narrow lanes with no shoulders.
The narrow lanes were blamed for traffic backups, particularly during the peak summer tourism season. Now, traffic is expected to flow smoother into town because of the wider configuration.
When they return this summer, Sea Isle’s tourists will discover there is a new road to take them to the beach.
Motorists, no doubt, will also enjoy the scenery surrounding the elevated road. With the construction barriers now gone, panoramic views of the marshlands and back bays unfold for miles.
With the construction barriers now gone, the elevated road offers expansive views of the surrounding marshlands.
