DDC gives fourth quarter report
on Bayside infrastructure project
BY JENNA BAGCAL
The Department of Design
and Construction (DDC)
recently released its fourth
quarter report concerning
the progress of a Bayside infrastructure
project.
DDC’s contractor CAC
Industries broke ground on
QED991 in March 2018. According
to the agency, the
purpose of the $62.5 million
project is to install new 8-,
12-, 20-, 48- and 72-inch water
mains to improve water
service distribution and improve
fire projection for residents.
As of November 2019, CAC
Industries had completed
about 35 percent of the multiyear
project. To date, the
agency reported the following
portions of the project as
complete:
• Distribution water main
installation on 38th Avenue
from 216th Street to Francis
Lewis Boulevard and Francis
Lewis Boulevard from
37th Avenue to Utopia Parkway
• Sanitary and storm sewers
on 38th Avenue from
216th Street to 207th Street
• Sewers on 38th Avenue
from 206th Street to Francis
Lewis Boulevard
• Truck water main installation
on 38th Avenue from
216th Street to 207th Street
• Currently, the contractors
are assigned to several
ongoing portions of the
project including:
• Storm sewers and connections
on 38th Avenue
from 213th Street to 207th
Street
• Excavation and installation
of curbs and sidewalks
on 38th Avenue from 216th
Street to 207th Street
• Utility relocation on 33rd
Avenue from 221st Street to
Bell Boulevard (work by Con
Edison)
• Following the current
portions of work, CAC Industries
will complete the following
portions of QED 991:
• 48-inch trunk water
main installation on 38th
Avenue from 206th Street
CAC Industries excavates and paves 38th Avenue in Bayside. Photo: Samantha Wanderer/QNS
(Clearview Expressway) to
Francis Lewis Boulevard
and 37th Avenue from Francis
Lewis Boulevard to Utopia
Parkway
• Full roadway restoration
throughout the project
area starting on 38th Avenue
from 216th Street to Bell
Boulevard
As the project continues
in Bayside, residents have
expressed numerous safety
and quality of life concerns.
These complaints include
rough roads with potholes,
street closures, lack of parking
and increased levels of
dust and noise.
DDC estimates that they
will finish the entire project
by summer 2021.
Meanwhile, residents of
Underhill Avenue have also
voiced complaints concerning
QED991. Although their
street does not fall under the
project’s service area, DDC is
currently using Underhill Avenue
and 170th Street as the
TIMESLEDGER | Q 2 NS.COM | DEC. 20-26, 2019
project’s storage facility site.
Back in February 2019,
Underhill Avenue residents
pushed for the removal of the
site at a Community Board 7
meeting. They cited the same
quality of life issues as the
Bayside residents and said
that DDC had not asked for
community input before establishing
the storage site.
The site, which belongs to
the Department of Environmental
Protection, operates
from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the
midst of one and two family
homes in the area.
“The goal is to remove
them because this is a residential
area, it’s a park
where people walk their
dogs, kids ride their bicycles,
it just doesn’t belong,”
said resident Bebe Rohani
at the February meeting. “A
processing site belongs in an
industrial site.”
Residents living near the
storage site said that the big
trucks cause an ear-splitting
ruckus and even cause strong
vibrations that shake the window
panes. Flushing residents
also complained about the
resulting pollution from the
trucks, damages to their homes
and contaminated water.
Nine months later, Underhill
Avenue residents attended
the Auburndale Improvement
Association meeting on
Nov. 19 to express more concerns
to DDC Deputy Commissioner
Andrew Hollweck.
Many who attended the
meeting were concerned
that the Underhill site would
become a permanent storage
facility for trucks and other
construction supplies.
“What guarantee do we
have as our neighborhood
that this will not be a permanent
site? How long is the duration
of the project,” asked
one concerned resident.
“I don’t think anyone
wants to be a permanent disruption
to a neighborhood.
A residential neighborhood
should not be the home to
heavy industrial use for
eternity and DDC will not
permit that, ” Hollweck said.
The DDC deputy commissioner
said that he would
“talk” to DDC, DEP and CAC
Industries about the site and
relay the responses to the
community.
Hollweck added that the
contract DEP has for the
storage site could potentially
continue into 2022, though
work on the infrastructure
project is slated to end in
2021.
For questions and concerns
about QED991, residents
are encouraged to
contact the Community Construction
Liaison Latisha
James at 347-235-0412 or by
email at qed991ccl@gmail.
com.
Reach reporter Jenna Bagcal
by e-mail at jbagcal@qns.
com or by phone at (718) 260-
2583.
FLUSHING TIMES (USPS#03925) is published weekly by Queens CNG LLC, 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY 11361, (718) 229-0300. The entire contents of this publication are copyright 2019. All rights reserved.
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