(The Forum) - FLOOD MITIGATION PLANS PRESS ON IN BROAD CHANNEL

July 18, 2014

The city is plugging away at flood mitigation efforts in Broad Channel, which was brought to its knees after Superstorm Sandy. File Photo

The city moved forward with flood mitigation work in Broad Channel over the weekend in some of the most vulnerable areas, the Transportation Department said.

Regular flooding along Cross Bay Boulevard in Broad Channel received a bit of extra attention over recent weeks when the city set out to rebuild roads at higher elevations by bringing bulkheads to West 11th, 12th and 13th roads in Broad Channel. A spokesman for the DOT said most of the work along Cross Bay Boulevard was taken care of over the weekend with the exception of a few final streets, which should be done by the end of July.

The city outlined the plan on its DOT projects website along with an expansive slideshow on the problem areas.

“These streets were selected due to their low grades and their susceptibility to flooding during high tides,” the DOT said. “This project will decrease the amount of time that the streets are flooded, decrease the frequency and severity of the flooding and enable the water on the streets to drain back into the bay through the use of one-way valves.”

The neighborhood was especially devastated in 2012 after Superstorm Sandy, which left numerous homes along West 12th Road unoccupied because residents had to pay for such extensive repairs.

The entire project ran the DOT about $7.5 million and an additional $10.87 million charged to the Department of Environmental Protection, the DOT said. Over three years, the city has been working to install new storm sewer mains, new water mains, new sanitary sewer mains and sanitary and storm sewers on Mini-piles as the roads were elevated to alleviate flooding.

Dan Mundy, president of the Broad Channel Civic Association, asked that residents around 10th through 15th roads to avoid parking there unless they live on those roads. The same applied over the weekend to West 11th, West 12th and West 13th roads, when the city was doing work on those areas as part of the project.

Designated parking spots were set up along both sides of a nearby mall during the construction, the DOT said.

By Phil Corso