City Agencys Gaffe Prompts Water Main Relocation
East Side residents are outraged that the city has shifted an alternate water main from East 61st Street to East 56th Street, five years after the original plan was approved. The alternate water main is part of a larger project spearheaded by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to install a primary water main underneath East 59th Street, between First and Third avenues. The smaller water main is needed for safety and security reasons. At an April 6 Community Board 6 meeting, Department of Environmental Protection officials explained that they didn"t realize there would be traffic problems on East 61st Street until recently, when they submitted plans to the city"s Department of Transportation. After conducting a traffic analysis, the Transportation Department determined that East 61st Street was too narrow and that the project would take up to eight years to complete if continued as planned. Instead, East 56th Street was suggested as a route for the alternate water main; that street is three-and-a-half feet wider than East 61st Street, allowing the flow of traffic to continue along with construction work. The sudden change in planning seems to be an error on the part of the Department of Environmental Protection. When asked at the meeting why it took five years for officials to realize the problem, Matt Mahoney, associate commissioner, said, â??We had not engaged the DOT until now. It was a mistake on our part. That response did not sit well with board members. â??I"m disappointed with how [the situation] was handled, said Fred Arcaro, chair of Board 6"s public safety, environment and transportation committee. â??Traffic implications were there all along, but overlooked. They should have known early that this was going to be a problem. The public expressed concern that construction would further clog traffic on East 56th Street, which feeds onto First Avenue and is a main artery to the Queensboro Bridge. The High School of Arts and Design, on Second Avenue between 56th and 57th streets, and a Verizon phone hub are also on that street, between First and Third avenues. Both Assembly Member Jonathan Bing and Council Member Jessica Lappin attended the April 6 meeting and expressed concern that moving the project to East 56th Street would impact the intersection of East 57th Street and First Avenue, one of the busiest in the city. â??Safety is the most important thing to keep in mind, Bing said. â??To put the alternate water main under 56th Street would require construction at the intersection of 57th Street and First Avenue. This does not make sense in terms of safety. Lappin pointed out that an elderly woman was hit by a bus at that intersection earlier that day. The board suggested East 64th Street as a possible alternative, moving the project into the jurisdiction of Community Board 8. However, the Manhattan news website DNAinfo.com reported that Board 8 members were not happy about hosting another big project in their district. Board 6 is hoping to get the public involved so that a thoughtful decision can be made about where to construct the alternate water main. â??We just want to have all of the questions answered clearly and have the best route selected after careful and thoughtful study, said Mark Thompson, the board"s chairman. â??The community should be able to give input, understand the process and have their opinions heard by the city. City officials said no final decision had been made about the location and that all options would be reviewed. Board 6 asked for traffic studies on all possible streets, and that such studies be made public. The Transportation Department confirmed that it would study traffic on nearby streets, but did not respond to questions about how much those studies would cost and how long it would take to construct the water main on East 61st Street versus East 56th Street.