Nissequogue road in danger of sliding into river, officials say

A portion of Nissequogue’s River Road is threatened by severe erosion and will need to be reinforced with steel plating before the village "loses" the road, village officials said. 

“River Road is sliding into the river again,” George Gifford said at a Feb. 19 Village Board meeting. “If we don’t do anything, eventually we’re not going to drive down that road. It won’t be there.”

Gifford and Mayor Richard Smith were scheduled to inspect on Thursday the affected section of River Road about 200 yards north of the Steep Bank Road intersection. 

River Road, which Smith described as a former Indian footpath, is one of just two major roads leading toward the village’s north end and its Long Island Sound shoreline. 

It follows Nissequogue River, to the west. To the east are steep hills where natural springs run out to the river, carrying silt and fine particles and threatening to create what Gifford called a “void” under the road bed. Heavy winter rains may have worsened conditions, Smith said in an interview.

Steel plating sunk into land on the river side of the road could provide a solution, Gifford said, replicating a village project from a decade ago. 

That project focused on a 30-foot stretch of River Road a quarter mile north of the Steep Bank Road intersection and was a success, Smith said in an interview. It cost about $50,000 and took less than a week, he said. 

Work could force officials to temporarily close one or both lanes of traffic on River Road, Smith said. “We have sufficient funds on hand,” he said. “We’re going to make sure we don’t lose River Road.” 

In neighboring Head of the Harbor Village, which is similarly hilly, a severe storm in 2016 undermined a portion of Hitherbrook Road. Officials there have installed new stormwater drains partly to fight erosion, and are contemplating legislation mandating review of plans for driveway construction or relocation to address runoff.