By Ayala Ben-Yehuda
After years of flooding that has overwhelmed local streets and caused damage to homes in Bayside, two new sewer projects are about to begin in earnest in two far-flung sections of the community.
Bayside residents have complained for years about the community's antiquated sewer system, which has left cellars full of water, backed up pipes and turned local streets into canals after heavy rains.
Starting next month, new pipes will be laid under 210th, 211th, 212th and 213th streets between 29th and 35th avenues, said Mehdi Asharian, borough director of program management for the city Design and Construction Department.
Construction will also be done on 210th Place between 29th and 32nd avenues, and on Bell Boulevard at the intersections of 29th and 32nd avenues.
The yearlong project will involve digging trenches and installing new sanitary, storm and water mains, said Asharian.
The block-by-block construction will take place weekdays between 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. or 4 p.m., said Asharian.
Neighbors will be informed of water shutdowns 24 hours in advance via hand-delivered notices, he said.
If a driveway is to be blocked, residents will be given three or four days' notice. Drivers may have to park their cars elsewhere for up to five days at a time, Asharian said.
Residents with special needs, such as the wheelchair-bound, can arrange to have plates put over their driveways to ensure access.
The trenches will be fenced off and covered with wood sheeting, said Asharian.
Streets will have one lane open to emergency vehicle traffic during construction, but non-emergency vehicles will have to wait until work stops for the day to drive through, said project manager Yelena Kupershtok.
A brochure with information about the project and phone numbers to call with questions will be available at the offices of Community Board 11, Kupershtok said, and will also be distributed on site. Community Board 11 is located at 46-21 Little Neck Pkwy.
Those with questions related to the project may also visit www.nyc.gov/buildnyc.
The highly anticipated Oakland Ravine project, designed to alleviate flooding and ponding in Bayside Hills, is slated to begin “any minute now,” said Jerry Iannece, Community Board 11 chairman and an early advocate of the project.
The first phase of work, expected to last 18 months, will begin on Bell Boulevard at 53rd and 56th avenues, and will continue on 56th Avenue between Bell and Springfield boulevards.
Iannece said contractors have entered local residents' homes to photograph and document existing damage for liability purposes since some of the vibrations associated with construction could damage homes in the area, some of which are 80 years old.
“Some people were getting a little spooked with that, but I told them it's pretty standard and to be expected,” said Iannece.
Equipment for the Oakland Ravine project is being stored at staging areas, including one on Cloverdale Boulevard and 223rd Street.
That intersection on the edge of Alley Pond Park housed a ballfield that was razed by contractors under the condition that they would restore it once the project is completed, said Anne Marie Boranian, district manager for Community Board 11.
Lakeside Towers resident Kathleen Karayalcin, who lives across from the staging area, complained of some inconveniences such as noise from construction vehicles backing up.
“We have constant beeping in the morning,” she said.
Karayalcin, who has lived in the luxury high-rise for 25 years, also said she had to take a detour from Springfield Boulevard to Northern Boulevard and then enter the complex parking lot through a side street rather than through 46th Avenue.
“I hope they finish fast,” she said.
Boranian said no calls of complaint about the project had come into her office, and that 46th Avenue street parking had been relocated to Cloverdale Boulevard.
Work will not begin near PS 203 at 53-11 Springfield Blvd. until summertime so as not to interfere with students' access to the building, Iannece said.
Reach reporter Ayala Ben-Yehuda by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 1-718-229-0300, Ext. 146..
