By Donald Wittkowski
Work crews have begun paving the road in a final push to complete the last half of an elevated section of Sea Isle Boulevard that will protect motorists from coastal flooding, even during severe storms.
For four years, contractors have been elevating the main entryway into Sea Isle City by 4.5 feet to raise it above the 100-year flood level. The project is creating a safer evacuation route off the low-lying barrier island.
“If you ever need to get out, you won’t have to worry about being stuck by the bridge,” Sea Isle Business Administrator George Savastano said of the benefits of having a higher road not vulnerable to flooding.
The first half of the $12.7 million road project was completed last year. Crews are now finishing up the other side of the roadway and hope to have it completed by late December – a full year ahead of schedule, Savastano said in an interview Tuesday.
“The goal is to get up and driving on a road with the full width and shoulders by the end of the year,” he said.
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 on the narrow, shoulderless lanes.
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.
Paving has started on the last section of roadway that is being elevated. During the paving, heavy construction equipment is tucked behind concrete barriers to safely separate the work from traffic using the other side of the road.
Construction crews had to even out the mountainous mounds of dirt that serve as the foundation for the elevated road. The dirt has been there since last year, but needed time to settle to create a firm road bed for the fresh layer of asphalt.
The settling process occurred much faster for the second half of the road, which has speeded up construction.
Previously, Sea Isle Mayor Leonard Desiderio had been frustrated with the slower pace of construction, prompting him to ridicule the project as the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”
“When that project started, I was taller, had more hair and had less gray,” he joked in remarks to City Council in September.
But now, Desiderio is satisfied that the work has picked up and is nearing completion. The prospect of completing the final phase of construction a year early represents a major milestone, Sea Isle officials said.
“He’s pleased that it’s coming to a conclusion,” Savastano said of the mayor.
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 long gone, work resumed on the road project for the fall and winter.
Although progress is being made on Sea Isle Boulevard, local motorists still must cope with the lengthy shutdown of the Townsends Inlet Bridge connecting Sea Isle with Avalon. The bridge closed on Sept. 17 and is not scheduled to reopen until May 22, 2019, during an $8.6 million reconstruction to replace seven deteriorated spans.
No longer able to make a short hop over the bridge, motorists must follow a roundabout detour using the Garden State Parkway or Route 9 for trips between Sea Isle and Avalon.
