Massive $62 Million Bergen Beach Street Rebuilding Begins

BERGEN BEACH – Work began today on a $62 million project to fix the streets in Bergen Beach. The project, which is being managed by the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC), NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) and NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), is scheduled to be completed in summer 2023.

Assembly Member Jaime Williams and State Senator Roxanne J. Persaud who represent the area know the issues well, and welcome the project. “The flooding and the roadway deterioration have been a plague and danger to so many in the Bergen Beach area,” Williams said and was grateful for the agencies “embarking on this noble endeavor.”

The project will involve work on 40 blocks in the neighborhood. The agencies plan to:

Below ground:

• Replace 21,143 feet of existing 8- and 12-inch water mains
• Replace 50 existing fire hydrants and add 20 new fire hydrants
• Replace 5,599 feet of existing storm sewers, in many cases with larger pipes ranging from 12 to 54 inches in diameter.
• Replace 132 existing and add 67 new catch basins

Above ground:

• Several blocks of Bergen Avenue will receive new sidewalks along Paerdegat Basin where none existed before. The project will install 25,500 square feet of new sidewalks and 1,700 linear feet of new curbs.
• Another 279,330 square feet of sidewalk and 30,650 linear feet of curbs will be replaced.
• Finally, more than 69,000 square yards of new asphalt will be put down as part of the final street restoration.
• Work will also include upgrades to local street lighting and traffic signals.
• A total of 67 street corners will also receive sidewalk extensions.
• At the end of construction, approximately 200 additional trees will be added to the neighborhood.

“This is a large investment in the community to improve local street conditions and resolve persistent flooding issues,” said DDC Commissioner Lorraine Grillo, talking of the scale of the project. The streets affected are (see also map above):

• Ave K Extension from E72nd to Bergen Ave to Ave L
• Bergen Ave and Royce Street between Ave T and Ave V
• E74th between Ave U and Ave X
• E72nd between Ave W and Ave X
• E66th between Veterans and halfway down the block to Ave M
• E67th between Veterans Ave and Ave T
• Ave N between E66th and Georgetown Lane
• Ave T between Veterans Ave and E72nd
• Veterans Ave between E65th and E72nd
• Ave U between E68th and E71st
• Ave V between E69th and E74th
• Ave W between E71st and Bergen Ave

“We are proud to join the Mayor’s Office, DDC and DEP in an effort to dramatically improve street conditions in Bergen Beach, including addressing frequent flooding along Bergen Avenue, the neighborhood’s first line of defense against flooding from Paerdegat Basins,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg in a statement, focusing on Vision Zero elements of the project. DEP Commissioner Vincent Sapienza lauded “new sewers and catch basins to Bergen Beach, greatly increasing the neighborhood’s drainage capacity and helping to alleviate localized street flooding.”

This will inevitably bring massive disruption to the community, and DDC has assigned a full-time Community Construction Liaison (CCL) to the project, Gina Modoo. She is the person responsible for “keeping the neighborhood apprised of construction progress, coordinates street closures, and utility shutoffs and can arrange special requests such as deliveries to local homes and businesses”. Ms. Modoo works on-site and is directly accessible to the public at 718-280-5417 or by email at bergenavenueccl@gmail.com.