By Sophia Chang
Liu said in an interview this week that the project, begun last August and servicing an area bound by the Cross Island Parkway, the Whitestone Expressway, 149th Street and 26th Avenue, is proceeding faster than initially planned.”It's been a year since we jointly announced this very important public works project to install a real drainage system in that substantially large area,” he said. “Friday was a year after that and a chance to give the residents an update on what's happening with that project.”Liu and Ward announced at the meeting at St. Alphonsus Formation Residence in Flushing that they expect the project to be completed in five years rather than the originally anticipated 10 years, and the cost is now projected to be $35 million instead of $30 million.”The DEP is committed to this area,” Ward said in a news release, noting that the project designer has been selected and design work will begin shortly. “It took a mixture of creativity, new thinking and technology to put together this project.”Liu said the project update was not meant to coincide with the recent rainstorms that have pummeled the city.”The timing of our meeting had nothing to do with the storm last week, though obviously it just compounded the issue on people's minds,” he said.The project to install a comprehensive system of catch basins, storm sewers and drainage outlets would alleviate the severe flooding in the area caused by the construction of the Whitestone Expressway in the 1960s, Liu said.”It's been a problem ever since the expressway was built. Before that, you had natural downhill drainage, but the Whitestone Expressway blocked off the natural drainage,” Liu said. “For 40 to 50 years the residents in the area near the Whitestone Expressway between 20th to 25th avenues have faced the worst kind of flooding that anyone can imagine.””We often hear of people having to work on their sewage systems and drain systems to make sure they are fully unclogged so that floods are prevented,” he added. The new sewer pipes will carry runoff water to Flushing Bay, according to Liu.Liu said that until recently, when improvements in technology made micro-tunneling under roads possible, it would have been very difficult for the city to install sewers without affecting the Whitestone Expressway.”The announcement we made last August highlighted the new technology that allows the city to install new storm water pipes underneath the expressway without having to open up the expressway,” he said. “That was the pivotal innovation that finally is allowing storm sewers to be installed in that entire area.”Reach reporter Sophia Chang by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
