That’s a Wrap for Main Fix

New Water Mains Installed Under Slew Of Kew Gardens Streets

Water should flow fine in Kew Gardens for years to come after the city officially wrapped up a multi-million dollar water main replacement project through the area last week.

This Department of Environmental Protection map shows the Kew Gardens streets where water main improvements were made in a recently completed, $10.6 million project.

Conducted by the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the $10.6 million effort replaced more than seven miles of cast iron water mains that the Jamaica Water Supply Company initially installed during the 1930s and 1940s as Kew Gardens was developed.

“By upgrading our infrastructure, we are ensuring the public has access to a reliable supply of healthy drinking water, that our firefighters have the water pressure they need to fight fires and that there is adequate supply to allow for continued growth in Kew Gardens,” DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd said in a statement last Friday, Dec. 12.

“Some of the cast iron water mains replaced were over a century old,” added DDC Commissioner Dr. Feniosky Peña-Mora. “Keeping our city’s infrastructure in a state of good repair while being a good neighbor in those communities where we are working are our top priorities.”

In this 2012 photo, workers are pictured digging a trench on a Kew Gardens street as part of the recently completed water main replacement project through the neighborhood.

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz praised the city’s DEP “for its dedication to modernizing our borough’s water infrastructure,” while City Council Member Karen Koslowitz noted that, even though the project “was disruptive and intrusive” at times, it was “necessary” to improve water service in the community.

The project area included Metropolitan Avenue between the Jackie Robinson Parkway and 127th Street; Lefferts Boulevard between Kew Gardens Road and 84th Avenue; and various residential side streets connecting one or both of those roadways.

In all, 35,000 feet of new mains, ranging from 8 to 12 inches in diameter, were installed below Kew Gardens Streets, serving as the main connection between large trunk water mains and household service lines.

Crews also installed 61 new manholes and 90 new fire hydrants. Approximately 2.7 lane miles of new asphalt was placed on roads where underground work was completed.

According to the DEP, the city invested more than $380 million over the last decade toward improving water distribution across Queens. Similar amounts have been secured in future years to further improve the borough’s water system.