"79,000 motorists everyday use this road that has been identified by our department as having the very worst drainage problems of anywhere in the state of New Jersey," Stephen Dilts of NJDot said.
Flooding on the Boulevard is legendary. It's been closed 80 times by high water over the past four years. Traffic comes to a standstill, choking the nearby residential roads.
The money comes from federal recovery funds. The new drainage system will include much larger underground conduits and more of them. But, even that doesn't guarantee there won't be anymore flooding.
"83-percent of that is going to take care of these problems, and the rest, when the river goes over the road, you can't do much to it," project engineer Nabil Hourani said.
That's because much of the flooding comes from the nearby Cooper River which is tidal. The project includes a massive retention basin to hold water until the tide recedes.
Even that will eventually become overwhelmed by severe storms and above normal high tides. They broke ground ceremonially today, but work is already underway. It should wrap up a year from now.
