Cape May County and Wildwood officials are finalizing details on a $10 million project to revamp the Rio Grande entrance to the city and mitigate flooding that commonly shuts down the George Redding Bridge.
On Tuesday, County Engineer Dale Foster unveiled renderings of the proposed project to the Cape May County freeholders that showed Rio Grande Avenue being raised 3 feet, a new turn lane to ease traffic, new signage and lighting, and a big pump station in the shape of a tram car to take care of much of the flooding issues that plague the city during heavy rainstorms.
The county, which is running point on this project because Rio Grande Avenue is a county road, hopes to start construction next September and have the project finished by Memorial Day 2019. Between now and next September, Foster said, they will get permits, coordinate changes with utility companies, secure all the funding and hire contractors to do the work.
In addition to the elevated roadway and turn lanes, the county is looking at creating special shoulders for NJ Transit buses to pick up and drop off people without blocking the left lane, Foster said.