Hoboken is a wonderful place to live for so many reasons — but it’s no secret that one challenge to living here is how easily the area floods during severe weather. Flooding can be devastating for a community, from fearing for one’s safety to costly + severe damage left behind on city infrastructure and personal property. With more extreme weather and rising water levels expected in the coming years, Mayor Bhalla and the City of Hoboken have recently installed flood barricades in low, flood-prone areas. These barricades have sensors that monitor flood levels, which City officials will watch in order to raise the barricades up when flood levels are high. This initiative is an effort to hopefully increase safety for residents and decrease flood damage. Read on for what we know about these new flood barricades in Hoboken.
(Photo Credit: @robhanley.iii)
The Flood Barricades
On July 6th, 2022, Mayor Bhalla sent a Nixle update on resiliency initiatives and updates — one of which included the announcement of new flood barricades.
“As residents may know, the City of Hoboken has undertaken a number of resiliency initiatives over the past several years to help mitigate flooding and reduce the damaging effects of severe weather events that continue to increase in intensity due to climate change,” the update reads. “We continue to prioritize these resiliency initiatives, which are especially critical as a coastal community right next door to the Hudson River.”
Read More: Flooding in Hoboken Q&A with Environmental Services Director
The update mentioned that, while there can be changes made to help protect from serious damage, the City recognizes that completely preventing flooding is impossible. As such, Hoboken’s installation of automated flood barricades are an effort to keep locals safe while also keep vehicles from traveling on dangerous flooded streets. City officials will be able to watch and monitor water levels through sensors in the barricades, thus enabling the City to raise the barricades when water levels are rising.
“The barricades will be installed at five low-lying and flood-prone intersections in western Hoboken,” City Spokeswoman Marilyn Baer told The Hoboken Girl back in July of 2022. “Water levels will be monitored via sensors in the catch basins at flood-prone intersections through a cloud-based system called Contrail by OneRain. This system will allow us to see water levels in real-time and will close the gates when water is on the roadway.”
The Hoboken Girl readers started noticing the floor gates around town earlier this week on Sunday, April 18th. Per Patch, the barricade locations include:
- Newark Street and Garden Street
- Harrison Street and Second Street
- Marshall Street and First Street
- Jackson Street and Third Street
- Fourth Street and Monroe Street
- Willow Street and Eighth Street
Additionally, the City plans to “install manual gates at Observer Highway and Park Avenue, Second Street, and Willow Avenue, and First Street and Clinton Street,” according to Patch. Both the automated barricades and warning signage are solar-powered.
Just a few days into the installment, some residents have noted the sheer size of the barricades. On Twitter, First Ward Council candidate Paul Presinzano said “I’m all for alerting residents of danger/water. However, this looks to be a bit over the top.” HG readers shared similar sentiments, one noting that the barricade resembled “a parking gate that is big enough to block the entire street.”
See More: Wildfires Around New Jersey — What to Know
Other Resiliency Initiatives + Updates
In addition to the flood barricades, Mayor Bhalla also announced other resiliency initiates and updates via a Nixle update on July 6th, 2022. This included a Resilient Buildings Design Guidelines Addendum, which is a one-stop resource for locals to help prepare their properties for storms and floods. The City is also pushing forward with attempting to expand Southwest Resiliency Park, and Northwest Resiliency Park’s construction is still underway and is expected to be completed by spring of next year. Once completed, it will become NJ’s largest resiliency park — able to hold up to two million gallons of water during severe weather events.
The City is also aiming to expand its green infrastructure through the Rebuild by Design project.
Other Hoboken sustainability and resiliency initiatives can be found here.
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