Route 59 in Rockland floods yet again. Officials float ideas for stopping that

WEST NYACK − Major storms turn Route 59 across from the Palisades Center and Dunkin' into a murky pond, forcing police to close the road in both directions to traffic, including police and other emergency vehicles heading to hospitals.

The eighth closure within a year came this week as waist-high water at points submerged the roadway. Officials anticipate Friday's forecast of more heavy rains will likely close the road in both directions.

During a news conference on Thursday along the eastbound road, Clarkstown officials and state and federal representatives called for the state and federal governments to finally get involved and end the massive flooding on Route 59 and along Route 303. They called for dredging the Hackensack River, expanding the Route 303 culvert, and enlarging water storage areas.

Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann said enough is enough with the state's lack of attention to curing the flooding that closes down the roadway, an artery that accommodates 45,000 vehicles daily along with 25,000 more on Route 303.

Hoehmann said the state needs to take seriously the issues affecting the road and river, and flooding and work with the federal government, CSX train operators, and the water company. He said flooding has been a problem for more than a century and causes problems across the area.

"People's lives are at risk," Hoehmann said. "This is unacceptable. We need a comprehensive plan for the Hackensack River, which involves dredging. The state needs to take it seriously."

The Department of Transportation continually reviews "the area for potential enhancements and, when flooding does occur, our crews work around the clock to reopen the road as quickly as possible and minimize the inconvenience to the traveling public," agency public information officer Heather Pillsworth said in a statement on Thursday.

She said "safety is always the top priority of the New York State Department of Transportation and we take the threat of flooding along any of our roads very seriously."

"However, a solution to this problem will require action that goes beyond NYSDOT’s jurisdiction over the state highway system," Pillsworth said. "As always, we remain willing to engage with all our federal, state, and local partners to address this issue."

Hoehmann said he visits the area after every storm and expects another trip after Friday's predicted storm dumps another 2 inches of water overflowing the massive catch basin on the eastbound side by the flyover bridge into the mall.

"I come down here every storm," Hoehmann said. "The water this last time was above the guard rail. You can imagine how dangerous that is."

State and federal reps get involved

Two state lawmakers, the Clarkstown Town Board and a representative of Rep. Mike Lawler, R- Pearl River, attended the news conference on the eastbound section of the closed-off road.

Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski and Sen. William Weber vowed to pressure the Department of Transportation and other state officials to take action, as well as fight for state money to support what will become a multi-million dollar project. He said library research shows the flooding going back 100 years.

Zebrowski said the current problems result from stronger and more frequent storms and more development. "Each exacerbates the other," he said.

Route 59 is a state road and the towns and county lack jurisdiction to oversee such a mitigation project. Zebrowski essentially said the state has done some token cosmetic mitigation, such as raising the road 18 inches two decades ago, but has not solved the problem of flooding.

He and other officials said major work needs to be done on the Hackensack River, noting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers doesn't like dredging.

"The flooding has gotten worse," Zebrowski said. "The state does what it can. The state needs to play quarterback and bring all the government agencies and others together. Dredging the Hackensack needs to be done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers."

Weber said a "bandaid" approach will not work. He said people know when the storms are coming and where the hard-hit spots will be. Other flooding areas include Suffern, parts of Stony Point, Piermont, and Haverstraw.

"We need to look at this holistically," Weber said, adding the remediation of the West Nyack corridor will cost a lot of money.

Officials said the state can get quick results by expanding the culverts along Route 303, easing potential flooding of Bobbie Lane and onto Route 59. Getting CSX to rebuild an aging trestle will take time.

A time frame for productive work toward ending the flooding was speculative since many parts to solving the problem.

"Government moves, but moves slowly," Weber said.

Rafi Silberberg, a district director representing Lawler, said the congressman is on board and will work to get funding and the Army Corps of Engineers involved. Hoehmann said Lawler helped get the town funding for other flood projects.

Clarkstown spends on flood remediation

Hoehmann said Clarkstown has spent $30 million in state and federal money and town money since he became supervisor for flood remediation projects. He said the town has engineering and data that could assist state and federal agencies.

Hoehmann said Clarkstown can offer data from its projects. He said Clarkstown In 2013 hired Brooker Engineering PLLC of Suffern to perform an analysis of the Hackensack River Basin tributary in West Nyack.

Clarkstown used $5 million in federal money toward the 2021 Klein Avenue project to remediate flooding that destroyed houses and property. Clarkstown is hoping for $3.5 million in federal grants for the Jeffrey Court project also hit by Hackensack River overflow.

When the Palisades Center was being considered by the Clarkstown Planning Board in the late 1980s into the 1990s, the final approval had the mall owners contribute $2 million toward easing the flooding, leading to the massive pond. The area had a history of flooding before the construction of the mega-mall, which the developer built on former landfills and a swamp.

Hoehmann said work stopped the flooding of the ShopRite parking lot as some dredging of the Hackensack River took place. The river, a drinking water source that goes into New Jersey, was filled with trash, such as tires, shopping carts, and silt.

Hoehmann said more work needs to be done.

"While one or two every couple of years were unacceptable, it's now every single rainstorm, and we have to find a solution," Hoehmann said. "We don't need a band-aid fix, we need a long-term solution. It's going to take a multi-pronged approach."

Steve Lieberman covers government, breaking news, courts, police, and investigations. Reach him at slieberm@lohud.com Twitter: @lohudlegal

Read more articles and bio. Our local coverage is only possible with support from our readers.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Route 59 flooded again. How can that, other floods be mitigated?