New Water Mains For F.Hills, Richmond Hill
Seeking to boost water pressure and distribution, the city will soon embark on a two-year project to replace aging water mains under the streets of Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, Jamaica and Far Rockaway, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced last Friday, Dec. 28, 2012.
Work related to the $14 million program will begin in March under the auspices of the city’s Department of Design and Construction (DDC). According to the DEP, crews will remove a total of 13 miles of cast iron mains-many of which are at least 60 years old-and replace them with new ductile iron pipes.
Construction will take place in phases and is expected to be complete at some point in 2015.
DEP Commissioner Carter Strickland said in a statement that the improvements will “ensure adequate water pressure for firefighting, basic sanitation and clean drinking water for these Queens neighborhoods for decades to come.”
“Public health and the future growth of New York City are contingent on having an adequate supply of high quality water, and over the last decade, we have invested $10.5 billion to upgrade our water supply and distribution systems,” he added.
DDC Commissioner David Burney added that the project “will be a significant upgrade for the area’s water system.”
Each of the mains to be replaced vary in size in either eight inches, 12 inches or 20 inches in diameter. Some of the dead-end pipes (which do not link to any other part of the water system) will be replaced with looped mains which ensures that water will always move.
According to the DEP, the twoyear project is one of 217 across Queens which are either underway or in the planning and design phases. It is anticipated that by the 2021 fiscal year, the DEP will have made $921 million in capital improvements to its sewer and water systems.
The new mains will be installed below the following streets, as listed by neighborhood:
Forest Hills
– 76th Road between Queens Boulevard and Grand Central Parkway;
– 85th Avenue between Myrtle and Metropolitan avenues; and
– Queens Boulevard between 78th Drive and Union Turnpike.
Kew Gardens
– 123rd Street between Metropolitan and Jamaica avenues;
– 130th Street between Hillside and Jamaica avenues;
– Hillside Avenue between Metropolitan Avenue and the Van Wyck Expressway;
– Kew Gardens Road between 80th Road and Union Turnpike; and
– Metropolitan Avenue between 85th and Hillside avenues.
Richmond Hill
– 89th Avenue between 134th Street and the Van Wyck Expressway service road;
– 91st Avenue between 110th and 111th streets;
– 91st Avenue between 134th Street and the Van Wyck Expressway service road;
– 108th, 109th and 110th streets between Jamaica and Atlantic avenues;
– 111th Street between Jamaica and 101st avenues;
– 134th Street between 91st and Jamaica avenues;
– 135th Street between 89th and 91st avenues;
– Jamaica Avenue between 107th and 111th streets;
– Myrtle Avenue between Park Lane South and 111th Street; and
– Park Lane South between 107th Street and Myrtle Avenue.
Jamaica
– Edgerton Boulevard between Grand Central Parkway and Croydon Road;
– Union Turnpike between 164th Street and Utopia Parkway.
Far Rockaway
– Beach Ninth Street between Central and Dinsmore avenues;
– Beach 12th Street between Central and Dinsmore avenues;
– Bolton Road between Beach Ninth and Sage streets;
– Channing Road between Neilsen and Beach Ninth streets;
– Dinsmore Avenue between Beach Ninth and Beach 12th streets; and
– Neilsen Street between Central and Dinsmore avenues.
For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/dep.
