By Kathianne Boniello
A $160 million project to revitalize the sewer system in Bayside and to create a new waterfall park in Oakland Ravine that was originally slated to begin this month has been pushed back until later this year, civic leader Jerry Iannece said this week.
The goal of the extensive project, first pushed by Iannece five years ago, is to alleviate the flooding around Oakland Lake, Springfield Boulevard, 46th Avenue and Queensborough Community College. The project, which also involves reworking the drainage system in the area, was originally scheduled to begin in 2001 and last until 2004.
“They had a couple of snags so they pushed it back until September 2001 and then October or so,” Iannece said in a telephone interview Monday. He is running for the city council seat now held by Mike Abel (R-Bayside).
The Oakland Ravine Project, also known as the Alley Pond Drainage Improvement Project, calls for three phases of construction to install new drainage lines along Springfield Boulevard to 46th Avenue, and beneath the Cross Island Parkway and Northern Boulevard before going into a 900-foot-long tunnel leading into Alley Creek.
“It should come before Community Board 11 by the end of September or early October,” said Iannece, a board member.
Meanwhile, a subcommittee of Community Board 11 in Bayside, which oversees the area of the project, discussed details of the work at a June 20 meeting.
While the committee has been concerned about how construction would be carried out at the intersection of Northern Boulevard and the Cross Island Parkway — which was rebuilt just last year — the project consultant said three lanes of traffic would be open in either direction at the intersection throughout the work.
The consultant, URS Corporation in New Jersey, also pledged to meet with the principal of nearby PS 203 on Springfield Boulevard to ensure traffic safety agents would be on hand to guide children walking to school during the construction.
During the Oakland Ravine construction a large sewer chamber will be installed at the intersection of 223rd Street and 46th Avenue, closing the location for about five months, according to the committee’s notes.
Because of the work slated to take place on 46th Avenue the street will be temporarily widened during the construction, eliminating the sidewalk to allow for one lane of traffic, URS Corporation said.
The street was scheduled to be shut beginning in February 2002, while work at Northern Boulevard and the Cross Island Parkway would also be underway.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
