The New York departments of environmental protection, transportation, and design and construction plan to invest $100-million in upgrades to existing water, sanitary sewer, and roadway infrastructure in two areas of Sandy-ravaged areas of Staten Island, officials announced Dec. 10. The funding will cover two major capital projects in the New Dorp Beach and South Beach sections of the island and aim to make both communities more resilient to future storms, they add.
Upgrades to New Dorp Beach will consist of the installation of more than three miles of new storm sewers; the reconstruction of more than 2.4 miles of sanitary sewers; the replacement of 2.3 miles of water mains; and the reconstruction of some roadways between New Dorp Lane to the north of New Dorp Beach, Ebbitts St. to the south, Milton Ave. to the west, and Cedar Grove Ave. to the east.
In South Beach, three miles of new storm sewers will be installed; more than 2.7 miles of sanitary sewers will be reconstructed; more than three miles of new water mains will be replaced; and roadways will be reconstructed and in some areas re-graded between McClean Ave. to the north, Olympia Blvd. to the south, Hickory Ave. to the east, and Quintard St. to the west.
The city is acquiring land for the projects, which are in the design stage and being funded by the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Dept. of Transportation (DOT), says Edward Timbers, a DEP spokesman. The Dept. of Design and Construction (DDC) will perform the work, which is expected to begin in 2017, Timbers adds.
“To create a safer, more resilient city, we’re rebuilding Staten Island’s streets from the ground up,” said DOT Commissioner Sadik Khan in a statement. “Shoring up some of the borough’s most vulnerable roads will help protect residents and ensure that the infrastructure is there—and particularly when Staten Islanders need it most.”
The DEP is "constantly upgrading existing sewers throughout the city and building them where necessary—especially in Staten Island and Southeast Queens—where the pace of residential and commercial development outpaced the extension of the sewer system,” Timbers says.
The agency recently announced several new initiatives to help manage stormwater and alleviate local roadway flooding in neighborhoods throughout southeast Queens. This includes the recent installation of four blocks worth of new storm sewers and 14 new catch basins in Jamaica.
The city is as yet determining which other neighborhoods would benefit from improvements in drainage and flooding conditions, DEP says.
