Route 40, locally known as Black Horse Pike, is one of the primary ways to get in and out of Atlantic City.

But a mile long stretch of the road between the shore town and Egg Harbor Township floods multiple times a year.

It's a poster child for the state's problem with the repercussions of longer, heavier rain events.

As Raven Santana reports, one South Jersey lawmaker is pushing the state to give drivers some financial relief when they get cut off from that main artery.

And it's awful.

This is like I should stock trout in it or something.

Barry Blackman says he's sick and tired of being left stranded in his home when it floods for hours.

His home is located on Fox Place, just a short walk away from Lakes Bay that's prone to flooding about eight times a year and affects anyone on the small street.

I have lost three cars and two motorcycles because it got so high.

You're talking to the right person.

It's a disgrace.

What are we, subhumans?

On a regular basis, it floods every full moon in high tide.

But it can also flood from heavy rain.

It has nothing to do with the tide.

And once in a while, if the wind is bad, the wind will actually blow it up and out of here.

And homeowners aren't the only ones impacted by the flooding.

So are local drivers and really anyone and everyone who uses Route 40, which is why Senator Vince Polestina is introducing new legislation to change that.

Unfortunately, Route 40, which is a state roadway, floods constantly now and impacts people trying to come into Atlantic City, get out of Atlantic City, and also impacts a lot of the residents over there.

And the alternate route is the Atlantic City Expressway where there is a toll.

And so the bill would suspend those tolls any time the state has to close the roadway.

40.

Very important for people impacted either coming in or getting out of the city and also the residents in West Atlantic City, they should not have to pay additional money because the state road is flooded.

Polestina is confident that the bill will pass regardless of what political party lawmakers support.

We have Donna Claridge introducing the Assembly version.

I'm sure everyone will understand that this is an impact on the people here, that the residents and the people visiting Atlantic City.

So I'm sure we will get bipartisan support.

So Atlantic City, I think is a really great example of the impact that sea level rise can have on the economy, because most of the people that work in Atlantic City don't live in Atlantic City, so they have to drive on and off the island to get to work.

And that primarily is your service industry employees, the casino employees, you know, the people that make tourism run their right.

So the economy is really tied to people being able to get on and off Absecon island Associate director of Monmouth University's Irving Coast Institute, Tom Harrington, says while the bill will give motorists a cheaper way to get around, he's more concerned about repeated flooding and the long wait for permits, money and construction to elevate the road.

A $27 million project that was originally introduced almost five years ago.

When we talk about sea level rise of a foot and a half by 2050 per say, that's just one component of of the flood risk.

The reality is that on top of that sea level, we have tides and storms.

And so it's not just the high tide that may cause more frequent flooding.

It's the number of storms we get in and the storm surges we get in the bay.

So so we look at the probability of future flooding.

The storms become a key element of that.

And can create more frequent flooding than we would expect just by adding sea level rise to the tidal hoad.

Polestina says the city needs a comprehensive program for dredging in Lakes Bay and support from the local and federal government to restore waterways in the areas which he says have not been restored in pre Sandy condition.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Raven Santana.