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Shovels In the Ground

Borough Bd. Eyes Infrastructure Projects

The Queens Borough Board and Queens Borough Cabinet reviewed active infrastructure projects-including the reconstruction of Flushing’s Roosevelt Avenue Bridge- during a joint meeting at Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens on Monday, July 21.

Maria Centeno, director of the Office of Outreach and Notification at the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) spoke on the current infrastructure projects in Queens that commenced in the new fiscal year that began on July 1.

The city Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Queens borough commissioner, Dahlia Hall, explained to the chairpersons and district managers of Queens’ 14 community boards the need for construction access to properties adjacent to the Roosevelt Avenue Bridge, which carries the elevated 7 subway line over the Flushing Creek and Van Wyck Expressway.

“We’re here to discuss the temporary construction easements we need,” Hall said. “It’s for temporary construction easements to help do our work more quickly.”

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and several City Council members from Queens attended, and the temporary easements were granted.

Dorothy Howes, a consultant from the firm AECOM, presented to the joint meeting plans to perform the work, which will take almost 4 years to complete, Hall said.

“The overall need for this project is the bridge is in very bad condition,” Hall said.

The sidewalk on the bridge will be replaced with a 10′-wide bike path/walkway. A new steel fence on the side and new columns will also be installed. It’s “almost a complete rehab,” Hall said.

The meeting to take a vote was necessitated by a federal timeline that will pay for 80 percent of the work if the easements were granted, and construction begins this fall, Hall said.

The bridge is an important link in the transit network, and some at the meeting were concerned commuters would be affected.

To allay these fears Hall said, “this project will not interfere with the number 7 line.”

Another transportation concern, voiced by Board 5 Chairperson Vincent Arcuri was the possible disruption to a nearby bus depot.

“The buses are not going to be relocated from the depot,” Hall said,.

“All of these easements will be returned to their owners,” she added.

Three or four of the properties DOT needs access to for construction are owned by private entities, she said.

“We’ve already reached out to property owners and are in negotiations with them,” Hall said.

Another concern was possible problems on Mets game nights, or while the US Open is in town. Hall advised that construction embargoes would halt work on game nights, and that Traffic Enforcement Agents would help move traffic.

“It’s a very complicated job, but we will not interfere with game nights or any other events,” she said.

“It’s going to inconvenient,” she said, but “Traffic Enforcement Agents will provide a similar function as during games.”

Current infrastructure projects

Maria Centeno, director of the office of outreach and notification at the Department of Design and Construction (DDC), spoke on the current infrastructure projects to begin in financial year 2015.

There are nearly 100 DDC projects active in various stages, with 27 in construction, 17 in construction procurement and 31 in the design phase, Centeno said. A total of 1.7 billion has been allocated in a tenyear plan to finance these infrastructure projects, she stated.

That entire amount is not coming from the city’s coffers, Katz advised the meeting.

“If it’s listed here, it’s not necessarily being funded by the city,” Katz said.

Information on spreadsheets with details for all the projects was given to each district manager and chairperson.

“There’s a lot of projects in Queens,” Centeno said.

She spoke only on infrastructure projects and work on public buildings.

Projects in the procurement phase are those where work will begin in 30 to 90 days, she said.

Centeno showed a presentation on the phases necessary to build, and said, “I get asked this question a lot, why do projects take so long to complete?”

Community Board 2 has nine projects ongoing. These include restoration of wetlands next to Newtown Creek, green infrastructure and sustainability projects, greenstreets and renovations to the 51st Avenue pedestrian bridge, Centeno said.

This is a $4.1 million project, which is currently in the final design phase, with work scheduled to begin in the spring or summer of 2015, Centeno said.

Traffic calming and Safety to Schools projects in Board 2 are also upcoming, she said.

Safety to Schools is a project “to help schools across the state implement effective school safety strategies and plans to enhance emergency preparedness,” according to the Department of Education website.

The main project within the confines of Community Board 4 is improvements to Corona Plaza. It is in the final design stage, and work will begin in financial year 2015, starting July 1, Centeno said.

Community Board 5 has 12 active projects, including a $24.5 million sewer replacement project along Calamus Avenue and the reconstruction of 73rd Place in Middle Village.

This is a $21.8 million project to alleviate flooding by installing new catch basins and sewers. It will be completed by 2024, she said.

Community Board 9 has eight active projects, Centeno said.

Water mains needs to be replaced in two locations, in addition to the reconstruction of Union Turnpike and replacement of manholes and sidewalks, she stated

“A lot of these sewer projects are so DEP can help alleviate flooding,” she said.