Senator Jim Holzapfel, Assemblyman Dave Wolfe, and Assemblyman Greg McGuckin (all R-Ocean) called on the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) to investigate if massive flooding that occurred in the Greenbriar I senior community in Brick yesterday is related to the recently completed interchange construction at Exit 91 of the Garden State Parkway.

”The flooding that occurred yesterday along Burrsville Road and in Greenbriar is unlike anything the area has previously experienced, including during Sandy,” said Holzapfel. “We’re concerned that the recent reconfiguration of Exit 91 has impacted the area to make it susceptible to flooding. The NJDOT needs to investigate and undertake improvements if that’s the case.”

More than 100 homes in and around the Greenbriar I senior community were flooded during a torrential downpour on Monday, August 13th, forcing the evacuation of residents.

“It’s a little suspicious that Greenbriar can go five decades without this kind of flooding, including during Superstorm Sandy, but it’s suddenly underwater a year after the adjacent Exit 91 project was completed,” said Wolfe. “We need to know if changes to the grading or drainage in the area led to this flooding, and we need a plan to prevent it from happening again.”

The 10th District legislators sent a letter today to NJDOT Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti requesting that the Department examine whether the recently completed interchange at Exit 91 contributed to the flooding, and to develop an action plan to remedy any issues that are identified.

“Residents who lived through years of disruptive construction as Exit 91 was completed now live in fear that the next storm might flood them out of their homes again,” added McGuckin. “We need to determine if this was a freak event that’s unlikely to happen again, or if it’s a direct result of the engineering of the interchange. If there’s something we can fix, we need to find out, and we need to do it immediately.”