The road elevation of a one-mile stretch of a Black Horse Pike looks like a kiddie roller coaster. It rises, then falls, then rises again, ever so slightly, according to Department of Transportation blueprints.
On Tuesday, the state agency shared details of its $27.5 million project to lift that section of the Black Horse Pike to the same height in order to ease flooding there, as dozens of people packed inside the West Atlantic City firehouse listened on.
“All those low points that are catching water, they’re all going to be brought up to the same elevation,” said Steve Arbiz, of WSP USA, the design consultant hired by the state.
About eight times a year, one of the main evacuation routes out of Atlantic City floods, halting traffic and shutting businesses along a portion of the low-lying Route 40 causeway.
The new plan, officials say, will reduce flood events to twice a year. The project aims to lift Route 40 from Naples Avenue to Bay Drive by two-and-a-half feet, including sidewalks. State officials say construction will begin in 2022 and be complete by 2025.