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| Supporters of the plan to elevate Highlands say the borough's topography and clear boundaries make it a good candidate for such a project. / MARY FRANK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Sources: U.S. Census |
Along the Bayshore, people often say they live on either the “wet” or the “dry” side of Route 36.
The distinction was particularly apt during superstorm Sandy, which brought flooding primarily to communities north of the highway, which runs east to west along a working-class stretch of Monmouth County.
Highlands officials are dreaming of eliminating the distinction in the borough with arguably the most ambitious flood-control measure of all: raising the entire downtown.
In their vision, not only would every residential or commercial front door go up at least 10 feet — a process that already has begun in many parts of the Jersey Shore — but every curb, crosswalk and blade of grass would as well.
By their own estimates, the process would cost less than $200 million, take two years to complete and require millions of cubic yards of fill, consisting of either dredged material from Raritan Bay, chunks of concrete from construction sites or lots of barges full of gravel and dirt.
“The cost of doing nothing ultimately would be much higher,” said Mayor Frank Nolan, who lost his own house to Sandy and lived in a shelter for several days after the storm.
The idea seemed to grow credence earlier this year when the Army Corps of Engineers agreed to consider it as part of a feasibility study of the best long-term way of dealing with flooding in Highlands.
But those dreaming of all of Highlands finally living up to its name, not just its more elevated southern end, may be setting themselves up for disappointment.
“It’s a very expensive option,” said David Gentile, the study’s project manager. “It would carry an enormous cost that may not be outweighed by its potential benefit.”
Study due in 2015
A draft of the study — which is also looking at more traditional flood-control measures like berms and bulkheads — is due to be complete by 2015, said Gentile, who anticipates a public meeting on the issue either this fall or winter.
Those who criticize the proposal for being outlandish and expensive fail to fully consider one reason the concept could work better in Highlands than in most other waterfront communities: the borough’s unique topography, said Steve Szulecki, who heads the municipality’s Environmental Commission.
This is the New Jersey seaside town of Highlands, which has just provided me an excellent excuse to play with this fantastic global topography mapping tool:
As the map shows, the part of town north of Route 36 is flat and low, or, post-Sandy, what we'd think of now as very, very vulnerable. Obviously, this is where you'd want to put your downtown if the goal is launching boats. But the steeply shaded land elsewhere on the peninsula 50 miles from New York City looks like it would fare much better in a future of rising tides. Those parts of the town are protected by a natural ridge.
Here is another view with a U.S. Geological Survey map layer:
This geography lesson is just a bit of background for this curious story out of Highlands this week: Town officials are considering a nearly $200 million project to lift the entire downtown 11 feet above its current elevation. As the Asbury Park Press explains it (with a hat tip toTransportation Nation):
In their vision, not only would every residential or commercial front door go up at least 10 feet — a process that already has begun in many parts of the Jersey Shore — but every curb, crosswalk and blade of grass would as well.By their own estimates, the process would cost less than $200 million, take two years to complete and require millions of cubic yards of fill, consisting of either dredged material from Raritan Bay, chunks of concrete from construction sites or lots of barges full of gravel and dirt.
A project on this scale would almost certainly require federal resources. And the Army Corps of Engineers is actually considering this. Apparently, it isn't a totally outlandish idea given the town's unusual topography. So how exactly would you go about elevating an entire community?
Under the plan, Highlands would be elevated not in one shot, but in 500-foot-wide slivers. Once all the structures in a section are elevated, workers would build a retaining wall at its edge and then fill it in, installing new utility connections along the way.Residents of the sliver being worked on would be relocated to a temporary camp for about a month, Szulecki said.
Another way to look at this is that people will go to some pretty far-out lengths to remain in the places they consider home.
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