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Health & Fitness

Letter from the Department of Transportation in Response to Fernandez & Shehady Letter

Township Committeeman Jerry Fernandez and I received a response to our September 2, 2011 letter to the New Jersey Department of Transporation.

On September 2, 2011, Springfield Township Committeeman Jerry Fernandez and I wrote a on behalf of Springfield Hurricane Irene Victims because there was a serious void of leadership.  We received a written response from Assistant Commissioner Anthony Attanasio that addresses the points in our letter, clears up confusion concerning numerous suspicions and points Springfield in the right direction for seeking solutions to the problems faced during the recent storm.

 

Dear Committeeman Fernandez and Former Mayor Shehady,
 
The Commissioner has asked me respond to your correspondence concerning flooding in Springfield. It was a pleasure to speak with former Mayor Shehady last week to discuss the issues presented in your letter to the NJ Department of Transportation (NJDOT). We are of course extremely sympathetic to the situation your residents are facing in the aftermath of flooding, however, there are several points of your letter that require clarification from the Department. Those items were discussed in my conversation with Mr. Shehady and are contained in the following correspondence.
 
From the State's point of view the rain events of this summer were not comparable to any previous rain incidents of recent history. The storms that occurred within a three to four week span (the storms from the week of August 14th combined with Hurricane Irene and then Tropical Storm Lee) dropped more inches of rain on our State than any past event and overwhelmed drainage systems statewide. Flooding occurred in dozens of communities that do not normally deal with the issue. This was due to the fact that water tables did not recede from one storm to the next leaving storm water nowhere to naturally drain.
 
In your letter you address three issues you felt may have contributed to the flooding in Springfield. First is the Morris Avenue Bridge near Washington Avenue. Second was the question over whether or not Millburn opened their floodgates. Finally you inquired about the maintenance of the drainage systems on Route 78. 
 
In regards to the Morris Avenue Bridge you reference that there had previously been a NJDOT project to raise this bridge in elevation. After researching this claim within the Department I must inform you that there has never been any plans and or projects in any phase of our capital program to raise the elevation of this bridge. 
 
In the late 1990's, partially funded with NJDOT dollars, Union County began studying the feasibility of raising the Morris Avenue Bridge as part of a broader study they were doing in regards to the Rahway River. The goal of the study was to determine a) whether raising the bridge would in fact alleviate the flooding issues of the surrounding neighborhoods and b) what effect would raising the elevation of the bridge have on downstream communities considering the increased flow of water that this action would deliver. Between the years of 1999-2006 the County submitted several versions of the feasibility study but none met the NJDOT's standards and were sent back for revisions and or amendments. The Department has not received any further submissions from the County on this issue since 2006.
 
I would be happy to work with the Township of Springfield and any other interested parties to arrange a site visit by the NJDOT to this location to discuss the situation.
 
In regards to Millburn I have spoken with the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJ DEP) and there are in fact no floodgates in Millburn. The water that flowed into Springfield from Millburn was a result of the historic levels of rain fall, not any action by Millburn. For any further information on floodgates please reach out to the NJ DEP, I would be happy to get you the proper contact if needed.
 
Finally, you raised concerns about the maintenance of Route 78 and the drainage systems along the Interstate. I can assure you that our maintenance crews performed the proper preventative maintenance on the drainage systems along this highway and every State road. When storms of this magnitude are expected to hit the State it is standard procedure for our crews to clear all inlets and take all necessary steps to ensure the proper functioning of our drainage systems. Once again I must point out that the precipitation levels of these rain incidents not only delivered hundred year storm levels, but in certain cases the equivalent rainfall of a five hundred year storm. Therefore this was an issue of water volume, not the failure of our drainage systems due to improper maintenance. 
 
I hope you find this information helpful. If the NJDOT can be of further assistance please do not hesitate to reach out to my office.
 
Have a good day,
 
 
Anthony J. Attanasio
Assistant Commissioner
Government and Community Relations
NJ Department of Transportation

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