Black River Road Residents Want Runoff Addressed

Two Black River Road residents who live near the Fire Lane intersection told Lower Saucon Township Council members March 20 that spring water runoff is threatening their homes, as well as the safety of children who wait for the school bus in that area.

Dr. Ted Griggs, who lives in the 2300 block of Black River Road—west of Old Philadelphia Pike—told council he can no longer purchase flood insurance for his historic home near the Black River.

Citing flooding concerns, he said he may have to take drastic measures.

"I'm going to have to have the house destroyed—removed," Griggs said. "And it's a shame. I think it's a gem, and it should be salvaged."

Griggs also told council that a child waiting for a school bus on Black River Road slipped on a patch of ice and "lacerated a patella."

A patella is another name for the knee cap.

"If that had been my child, I would have been very upset," he said.

Puddles and icy patches are common in the area, Griggs and neighbor Gordon Gress said, because of springs that were exposed by land regrading uphill from their homes.

The regrading exposed the springs in an area with an already high water table, they told township engineer Dan Miller, of Hanover Engineering Associates.

"This is spring water," Gress said. "This doesn't stop."

A 32-year resident of Black River Road, Griggs told council the problems he's now experiencing only began about three years ago.

An easement that would allow the water from the roadway to be trained across his property into the Black River can't be granted, he said, "because the insurance company wouldn't cover it."

Township manager Jack Cahalan said an alternative solution would be the construction of a culvert along Black River Road to the stream.

However, even with labor provided by the township's public works department, that solution would be costly, he said.

Materials, engineering and equipment rental costs are estimated at $150,000.

"If this was put out to bid, we probably would be talking somewhere in the $300,000 to $500,000 range," Cahalan said.

In part because of utlities buried beneath Black River Road, Cahalan recommended that a feasibility study be completed to determine whether the work can be performed by public works employees, and council asked that the study be undertaken.

The study is expected to be completed in 60 to 90 days.

Referring to a solution for the runoff, council vice president Tom Maxfield said "it would be nice to have something in place before the next hurricane season."