Work begins on $2 million Halsey Valley Road Elevation Project

The Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR), the Town of Tioga and Tioga County announced last week the start of work on the $2 million Halsey Valley Road (CR 7) Elevation Project to raise a quarter-mile stretch of Halsey Valley Road by two feet above the height of the floodwaters caused by Tropical Storm Lee, which stalled over the area in September 2011.

The Halsey Valley Road elevation project is one of hundreds funded by GOSR through the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee and Superstorm Sandy, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo established the GOSR New York Rising Community Reconstruction program to empower residents and business owners in the recovery and resiliency process.

Construction to raise the southern portion of Halsey Valley Road between 17C and Allyn Road began in early July and will continue over the next three months. During construction, a detour along Allyn Road and 5th Avenue will route traffic around the project site. 

Through the NYRCR program, the town selected this project as a priority to ease access by emergency vehicles and reduce the risk to town residents of being unable to evacuate or reach supplies, emergency shelter and medical facilities during a severe storm. The project’s total cost, including design, will be $2.063 million.

On Sept. 7, 2011, Tropical Storm Lee stalled over the Southern Tier and dropped over 11 inches of rain on Tioga County during a 24-hour period. Torrential rains, compounded by saturated soil and a swollen Susquehanna River from Hurricane Irene, which occurred the week of Aug. 28, 2011, led to record high water levels. Because of the storms, many roads in Tioga were closed, including Halsey Valley, State Highway 96, Glen Mary Drive, and sections of NYS Route 17C. 

The southern portion of Halsey Valley Road that connects to 17C is a critical connector in the Town and its closure limited emergency vehicles’ access during and immediately after the storm. Overall, the Susquehanna’s rising waters caused severe flash flooding, destroying homes, businesses, infrastructure, and inundating agricultural land in the Town of Tioga.

Altogether, more than 650 New Yorkers served on 66 NYRCR planning committees across the State and have together proposed hundreds of projects inspired the unique needs and assets of their regions. Collectively, NYRCR committees have held 650 planning meetings and 250 large-scale public engagement events as they have worked to rebuild more sustainable communities, reinforce infrastructure, mitigate the risks of loss and damage associated with future disasters, and spur revitalization.

Established in June 2013, GOSR coordinates statewide recovery efforts for Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. Through its NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program, as well as its NY Rising Housing Recovery, Small Business, Infrastructure and Rebuild By Design programs, GOSR invests $4.5 billion in federal Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding to better prepare New York for future extreme weather events. 

More information about GOSR and its programs is available online at http://stormrecovery.ny.gov/.