After years of heavy flooding after heavy storms in the Riverside Park neighborhood of Delran ever since Superstorm Sandy, help is on the way.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will begin work next spring to reinforce the bulkheads with riprap from North Chester Avenue north to the sewer plant along the Rancocas Creek just one quarter mile before it flows into the Delaware River.
The USACE Army Corps representatives announced their plans during a town meeting at the municipal complex two weeks ago and released its draft report and environmental assessment for the Delran Township Emergency Shoreline Protection Project.
“For years, Delran has been pushing for help with the challenges we face along the riverfront,” Mayor Barnes Hutchins said. “We are finally seeing real federal investment in our community, and that is a positive step.
“The project presented by the Army Corps is focused on protecting our shoreline from continued erosion and protecting important public infrastructure, including the area around our wastewater treatment plant,” Hutchins said.
“At the same time we heard the message from our residents loud and clear – flooding is a major concern and people want real solutions,” said the mayor, adding that the township has continued to seek assistance for both shoreline erosion and flood mitigation, “and we will keep pushing for additional funding and support specifically aimed the flooding.”
A heavy rainstorm on Jan. 9 and 10 flooded the neighborhood from River Drive and inward more than three blocks, destroying four homes and forcing people to evacuate. At that time resident Jodi Klein of 71 Alden Ave. had said, “I feel like I am standing alone on an island. I have lived here for 25 years. I am displaced indefinitely.”
Responding to residents’ concerns that the USACE plan is more focused on soil erosion along the riverbank, Hutchins said, “This should not be viewed as a choice between addressing erosion and addressing flooding. We have an opportunity right now to move forward with a federally supported project that addresses a serious erosion issue, and we should take advantage of that opportunity while continuing to fight for the larger flood-mitigation work our residents want and deserve.
“These are complicated issues that go beyond Delran alone. They involve the Township, Burlington County, the State, the Army Corps and other federal agencies. We are going to keep working with all of those partners and continue advocating for Delran,” the mayor said.
“We also want residents to continue speaking up. This is still a draft proposal, and the Army Corps is accepting public comments,” Hutchins said. “The feedback we heard at the meeting matters, and we encourage everyone to stay involved as this process continues.
This project is progress, but it is not the end of the conversation.”
In August Delran Township Council had taken another step toward solving the chronic, severe flooding in Riverside Park by a $387,550 drainage and stormwater bond ordinance, which included $132,550 for completion of permanent stabilization of the Rancocas Creek Streambank.
Steps to be taken in the spring of 2027 by Delran and the USACE to shore up the streambank will include using gabion baskets, rock revetments, riprap and sheet pile bulkheads. The goal is to protect the stormwater infrastructure along River Drive and prevent shoreline erosion near the township sewer plant.
