State Officials Seek Answers About Route 59 Flooding

Heavy rains last Friday and Saturday led to the closure of a section of Route 59 in West Nyack for much of Saturday.  It is the same stretch of roadway that flooded frequently before the New York State Department undertook a massive $31 million rebuilding of the highway that was completed in October 2012. Local state representatives want to know why flooding reoccurred after such a major project. 

Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski (D-New City) and Senator David Carlucci (D-Nanuet) sent a letter on Tuesday to state Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Joan McDonald about Route 59’s flooding and closure and requested a review of the recently completed project and the flooding that occurred over the past weekend. They questioned whether additional flood mitigation work should have been done or could be done now.

The project, which renovated Route 59 in West Nyack, included replacing aging bridge crossings, improving pedestrian safety and raising the road near the Palisades Center by 18 inches. The raised road was an effort to mitigate flooding incidents, which plagued that stretch of Route 59 frequently.

“During construction, the DOT assured me that the project was taking flood mitigations actions such as raising the road,” said Zebrowski. “The flooding this past weekend is extremely concerning. The DOT must review the project and make appropriate adjustments to avoid future flooding as we near the hurricane season.”

Carlucci said the DOT needs to determine whether the project achieved its goals.

"The recent flooding along Route 59 raises serious questions and concerns over the success of the recent construction project,” said Carlucci. “It is clear that a thorough review and detailed assessment is what's needed to determine the cause of continued issues along this roadway.”