Hampton Township officials are eyeing the intersection of Route 8 and Duncan Avenue for total renovation and revival.

While the current landscape around the BP station includes a field and some homes destroyed by flooding caused by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, township manager Chris Lochner envisions something very different by 2019.

He and council president Vic Son spoke recently to the Hampton Township School Board to lay out their flood mitigation plan, which would widen the road, add a lake for the Gourdhead Run and Pine Creek watersheds and put in a green space that could be used as a backup water retention area.

Lochner says the township needs to do this in order to avoid the continuous flooding problems the area has when the so-called "100-year storms" roll through. It just so happens they've been coming through more frequently in the last decade or so.

"This was going to occur again and again and again," Lochner said.

The project would eliminate the baseball field that sits next to the fire hall and knock down the row of businesses and some old homes that the township purchased with FEMA grants.

The lake would have a capacity of up to 8 million gallons of water and would be surrounded by a running trail.

Next to the BP would be a parking lot that would serve as a park-and-ride area. Across Duncan Avenue, along Route 8, is where the green space would sit.

The project would also widen the roadway to add turning lanes, and update the street lights and pedestrian crossing areas to focus on safety and efficiency.

The total cost of the entire project would be slightly more than $10 million. While that is a lot of money, township officials insist that the cost of the project outweighs the cost of continued flooding damage.

Lochner also said plans are in place to get as many grants as possible so that taxpayers wouldn't have to foot the bill.

Son said not only is the project necessary, but it serves more than one purpose.

"It really does become a recreational use facility as well as a retention area," Son said.

Even though the timeline doesn't show the project finished until 2019, Son said the plan is already in the works, and could be finished sooner.