Brick Requesting Study Of Parkway Impact On Flooding

BRICK, NJ — The Brick Township Council is set to vote on a request for an independent study of whether recent roadwork on the Garden State Parkway contributed to the flooding in the area during the Aug. 13 storm.

In a resolution on the Township Council agenda, the town will ask the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the Ocean County Engineering Department for the study, and a public meeting on the findings.

In the immediate aftermath of the storm, which dropped 7.83 inches of rain on Brick and flooded dozens of homes in the immediate area around Garden State Parkway and the revamped exit 91, residents of the area questioned whether all the work that was done to widen the road and create the new ramps contributed to the extreme runoff.

Ocean County Freeholder John Kelly rejected the notion two days later at the Ocean County Board of Freeholders meeting, the Asbury Park Press reported.

The $21 million project, a joint effort of the Turnpike Auhority and the Ocean County Engineering Department, got underway in 2014 and widened the parkway and reconfigured the interchange, adding a northbound exit ramp and changing the traffic patterns in the immediate area around the exit to alleviate congestion.

The project has been the target of continuous complaints from residents of Evergreen Woods, who say the project brought the road dangerously close to their townhouse complex and have created sound levels in the area that are disruptive to sleep and harm their property values.

Evergreen Woods residents also protested the removal of a significant number of trees in the area of the work, including on the median between the north and southbound lanes.

Other residents have complained about the new configuration of the northbound exit, which deposits motorists onto Burrsville Road, with options to go left toward Burnt Tavern Road or right toward Jack Martin Boulevard.

In addition, Burrsville Road has been a problem for several years, flooding during even a minimal storm, particularly in the area near Jack Martin Boulevard. Residents have repreatedly asked the township to address the issue, but Burrsville Road is a county-owned road. Ducey has said Brick officials have asked the county to prioritize the area, with little success.

Following the Aug. 13 storm, Burrsville remained closed well into that Tuesday, creating traffic hassles in other nearby areas.

"In the wake of the flooding, there are important questions about the impact that the construction of the Parkway and the new entrances and exits have had on water management and runoff and if they played any part in the flooding that impacted so many lives," the resolution reads.

The town wants an independent study done to determine how much, if any, of the flooding experienced Aug. 13 was related to the Parkway improvements and how to mitigate the flooding in the future.

"Citizens have raised legitimate questions about how much of the flooding if any was caused by the Parkway construction and widening. The worst flooding was adjacent to the Parkway and the new exits and entrances along Burrsville Road," Ducey said in a news release ahead of the council meeting. "The Turnpike Authority and County Engineering Department have an obligation to find out if the flooding was worsened by their projects and if so, what they can do to help prevent this in the future."

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Photo by Brick Township Police shows the flooding in Greenbriar 1 on Aug. 13.