Bensalem’s Station Avenue Flooding Has No Easy Fix; Allen Says He Would Demand Meeting if Elected

Bensalem’s Station Avenue at the underpass becomes a flooded mess when it rains and has for decades.

Heavy rains on the state owned road bring floods and two well understood maxims by locals: first responders and municipal resources will have to be dedicated to the stretch or roadway and tow trucks will station themselves nearby expecting to rescue a vehicle stuck in standing water at the overpass.

The reason this has continued for as long are not exactly clear.

According to Bensalemers, flooding at that location has been ongoing for decades and that is potentially a conservative estimate.

Helen Darnell said it had been like that forever! Station Ave., State Road and Street Road and Tennis Ave. People in that neighborhood know to avoid these areas! What a shame they can’t do something about it. At least since the 1960’s.

“This is just ridiculous that after all these years the problem has never been solved,” Karen Smith-Glozzer said.

Flooding in Bensalem has become flash-point issue in the last few weeks. Several locals appeared at last weeks Council meeting to express their frustration. 

State Rep. K.C. Tomlinson said one of the win’s coming from the newly enacted state budget is that $775 million in funding for projects on state roads and bridges is included in the new fiscal plan.

Lower Bucks Source contacted Tomlinson and the Bryan Allen for PA campaign seeking comment on the Station Ave. flooding issue last Sunday and asking for responses by 5 p.m. the following day.

Tomlinson declined to reply by the deadline. She did, however that day, post a statement on her Meta page citing wins for Bensalem in the newly signed budget.

Allen in his response said flooding was an issue on voters’ minds this while he was campaigning.

“If I were the State Representative, I would have immediately called officials from PennDOT to meet me down on Station Ave to personally view the massive flooding that occurred there.”

Commenters, after the most recent storms, said there have been several attempts to fix the flooding/stormwater and drainage issues.

Bristol Borough officials about two years ago invited representatives from PennDOT to view the frequently flooded Green Lane underpass. There have been several documented first responder rescues at that location. Bristol and PennDOT officials have diverging views of who is responsible for the maintenance of the roadway and its more than 100-year-old stormwater system.

Bristol Borough and Bristol Township are now applying for a  Building Resilient Infrastructures and Communities Grant (BRIC) through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the amount of $3.15 million to mitigate flooding on Green Lane with a storm pipe replacement project.

As a temporary measure electronic arms are being installed on the Green Lane underpass at the cost of $40K which will allow the police and fire departments to deploy their resources differently during a deluge.

Credit: Bristol Borough Fire Police

A PennDOT spokesperson acknowledged Station Avenue is state-owned and said they’ve recently reached out to Bensalem officials to seek possible solutions for the stormwater/flooding issues.

“While it is ultimately PennDOT’s responsibility to maintain and “fix” state roads, we often work closely with municipalities,” said Helen Reinbrecht, Community Relations Coordinator for PennDOT.

In this instance, there are a couple of contributing factors causing flooding, she said.

“Heavier rainfalls that coincide with high tide on the Delaware River increase the likelihood of flooding. The roadway also has a sag condition due to the AMTRAK overpass, which can contribute to flood risk.”

PennDOT performs routine cleaning of the drainage systems to reduce the risk of flooding. As heavy rainfall events become more common, PennDOT has reached out to Bensalem Township to discuss possible solutions. In this area, heavy rainfall events can be considered rainfall events of more than 2-3 inches per hour, Reinbrecht said.