Updated Tuesday, Aug. 25, 4:25 p.m.
Street resurfacing may be coming to south Middle Village and other nearby areas, but the roadways are still in need of a complete and long overdue overhaul.
All of the streets, except for one, within the area south of Metropolitan Avenue, east of 73rd Place, north of Cooper Avenue and west of 80th Street are currently on the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) tentative priority list for repaving, but it has not yet been confirmed if they will be approved, according to Vincent Arcuri, chair of Community Board 5 (CB 5).
CB 5 has been trying to get a complete reconstruction of the area for the better part of two decades.
“We have been advocating to get these streets done for the last 20 years,” Arcuri said, “but we have had very little success. I can’t understand why. Middle Village is a hard-working, middle-class community that deserves this from the city.”
A full reconstruction of the streets would include replacing the underground sewer systems, a repaving of the streets, rebuilding curbs and walkways and more.
The DOT has offered to resurface the streets, a far cry from the full project CB 5 has been asking for. A resurfacing project would include the milling of the roadway — a process in which the top layer of asphalt is removed from the street — followed by the application of the new asphalt, with no work done to the underground utility lines.
“We are having mixed reactions about it,” Arcuri said of the DOT’s resurfacing plans. “Do we let the people suffer and wait to try and get a full reconstruction, or do we take the resurfacing which would postpone any other construction for at least five years?”
If the project is accepted by the DOT, it will begin in October or November, with a completion date near 2020, Arcuri said.
“The city has put together a plan to address these dangerous infrastructure flaws in south Middle Village. But when the city keeps delaying the ground breaking of such a plan, it is both unfair and negligent,” Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley said. “This project is a long time coming and is needed by hardworking taxpayers. Once complete, we will have a safer and more livable community in Middle Village.”
Along with these Middle Village streets, several others within the confines of CB 5 are on the DOT’s tentative resurfacing list.
That list includes the following:
- 58th Place between Maspeth and Grand avenues in Maspeth;
- Stanhope Street between Grandview and Seneca avenues in Ridgewood;
- 63rd Street between 59th Drive and Flushing Avenue in Maspeth;
- 83rd Street between Cooper and Doran avenues in Glendale;
- Rutledge Avenue between Woodhaven Boulevard and 88th Street in Glendale;
- Palmetto Street between Fairview and Forest avenues in Ridgewood;
- And several more.
Once confirmed, all street resurfacings are scheduled to begin this October or November.
