Residents say there is more flooding since road work

Originally published Aug. 11, 2011

By Neil Schulman
Sea Bright — Borough officials and residents say that the NJ Department of Transportation did a poor job the last time it repaved Route 36 here.
Locals say there’s been a lot more flooding since the work was finished, though the DOT is currently saying that the flooding was caused by pre-existing conditions.
At the Aug. 2 Borough Council meeting, resident Mary Ann Chevalier said that when it rains, water is not going away from her property.
“Prior to the resurfacing of Route 36 in the North Beach section, I had absolutely no issues around my property with any kind of flooding,” she said.
The work created a lip on the edge of the road, causing water to pool, Chevalier said. She added she’s especially worried about what might happen in winter, when her home could be surrounded by a sheet of ice if water doesn’t drain.
Mayor Maria Fernandes said there have been other complaints about the work done.
She said the DOT allowed contractors to use “second rate macadam” when working on the road.
The borough created a “punch list” of concerns from the project and has given it to the DOT. While they haven’t gotten written comments back yet, Borough Engineer Jacklyn Flor said when the state inspected the area, “they claimed the issue existed prior” to the work.
Flor said she wants to check if the contractor took before and   after pictures of the locations, which would give better evidence.
Fernandes was very critical of the DOT’s work in this case.
“The DOT are specialists. We count on them. For them to do a job like that is totally unprofessional.”
Council President William Keeler said that he wasn’t happy with the response from the DOT either. He had also gotten complaints, including that water has been pooling opposite the Surfrider. When he went there, he found that there was no drain to the river.