Wednesday, May 15, 2002

Work Begins on Tilton Road Drainage Project

The frequent and severe flooding problems that plague Tilton Road in Northfield are a step closer to being resolved, stated County Executive Dennis Levinson, as he announced a $52,860 contract for extensive subsurface utility survey work to be performed by the engineering firm of Taylor Wiseman and Taylor.

"Less than one year ago we received $2 million in special funding from the Department of Environmental Protection to assist us in the protection of this important coastal evacuation route for the county," Levinson said. "I am happy to report that we are making steady progress and are on schedule to begin construction activities before the end of this year."

Tilton Road is one of the county's most heavily traveled roadways and serves as an emergency evacuation route for the barrier islands, noted Levinson. "Beyond the constant damage to local businesses and adjacent homeowners, we can not afford for such an important evacuation route to be closed every time there is a severe storm," he said. Tilton Road is currently closed to vehicular traffic an average of eight to twelve times a year due to flooding.

The Tilton Road drainage project calls for the construction of a stormwater system incorporating collection and underground chambers in Tilton and Maple Avenues and a retention basin on a 10-acre site located between Burton Avenue and Maple Street in Northfield. During heavy rainfalls, flood waters will be diverted from Tilton Road into this system to maximize stormwater retention and recharge prior to re-entering the existing stormwater system. "The concept was to reduce the flooding of Tilton Road as much as possible while maximizing recharge in an environmentally sensitive manner," Levinson said. "This stormwater eventually winds up in Birch Grove Park and we wanted to improve upon the volume and quality of the stormwater discharge while we had the opportunity to do so."

Although county officials acknowledge that this project phase, estimated at approximately $3.5MM in cost, will not be a solution to all the drainage problems in the area, it will effectively handle heavy rainfall from most major storms.

For more information, please contact Howard Kyle at (609) 343-2223.

County News