Flood-prone section of Spring Valley Road in Warren County reopens after permanent elevation construction
HARDWICK TOWNSHIP, NJ (Warren County) – A flood-prone section of County Route 659, also known as Spring Valley Road, is now open after a construction project to permanently elevate part of the road where a one-lane temporary repair has been in place since the summer of 2019.
“Spring Valley Road is a critical road for our Northern Warren County community. These improvements will stand the test of time and will ensure that this section of road will never need to be closed again due to severe weather,” Warren County Commissioner Director Jason J. Sarnoski said.
“On behalf of the County Commissioners, I’d like to thank the people of Hardwick and the surrounding communities for their patience during this long process, which included a two and a half year delay by NJ Department of Environmental Protection to grant needed approvals,” Sarnoski added.
The 0.2-mile section of the road is now a full two lanes wide and includes an amphibian crossing installed under the road, with walls to prevent frogs and other amphibians from accessing the roadway as directed by the NJDEP.
The road initially closed in January 2019 after weeks of record-high precipitation caused the levels of area wetlands along both sides of the road to rise. Periodic closures occurred until Warren County installed a temporary elevated road that summer.
The new elevated road is constructed of prefabricated modular cement blocks with a cast-in-place cement cap on each side, filled with dense aggregate and then paved. Guide rails run the length of the elevated roadway, which has been raised as much as two feet higher than the original roadway surface.
