SACKETS HARBOR — A construction project is underway in Sackets Harbor in Jefferson County, seeking to address flood-water damage on Brown Shore Road along the eastern end of Lake Ontario. The flooding of 2019 left 12 inches of standing water on the roadway, leaving Brown Shore Road “impassable and resulting in a temporary road closure.” […]
SACKETS HARBOR — A construction project is underway in Sackets Harbor in Jefferson County, seeking to address flood-water damage on Brown Shore Road along the eastern end of Lake Ontario.
The flooding of 2019 left 12 inches of standing water on the roadway, leaving Brown Shore Road “impassable and resulting in a temporary road closure.”
The state awarded the project a $2.5 million Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative (REDI) grant, the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a Sept. 25 news release.
The proposed mitigation measures in the project include raising the roadway up to 18 inches and installing shoreline stabilization.
Brown Shore Road is a local two-lane roadway and the only access road for shoreline parcels. The construction effort will protect the “critical infrastructure from further depredation and disruption of usage, enhancing public safety and access to residences,” per Cuomo’s office.
The Brown Shore Road project is one of three projects that has been awarded to the Village of Sackets Harbor through REDI. Additional projects are scheduled to break ground in 2021.
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul attended a Sept. 25 event to announce the start of construction on the project.
“Waterfront communities along Lake Ontario have faced tremendous challenges in recent years, but New York is leading the way to help them build back better, smarter and more resilient,” Hochul said. “Our top priority is protecting the people who live in these communities and the Brown Shore Road project in Sackets Harbor will enhance public safety and ensure that access to the roadway and nearby residences is uninterrupted in the future.”
About REDI
In response to the “extended pattern” of flooding along the shores of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, Cuomo created REDI to increase the resilience of shoreline communities and boost economic development in the region.
Five REDI regional planning committees — comprised of representatives from eight counties — were established to identify local priorities, at-risk infrastructure and other assets, and public-safety concerns. The counties are Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Wayne, Cayuga, Monroe, Orleans, and Niagara.
The REDI Commission allocated $20 million for homeowner assistance, $30 million to improve the resiliency of businesses, and $15 million toward a regional dredging effort that will benefit each of the eight counties in the REDI regions. The remaining $235 million has been allocated toward local and regional projects.
The REDI commission toured areas hard hit by flooding on Lake Ontario and worked with local communities to come up with a “new vision for the shoreline from both a resiliency and economic development point of view in order to build back better and stronger for the future,” per the release.
Those involved developed a package of actions, ranging from legislative changes to aid packages to executive actions. Part of this plan includes ways to “harden” public facilities and enhance natural features such as living shorelines and sand replenishment on the Lake Ontario waterfront, Cuomo’s office said.
