The "Wall Street Area Water Main Project," also referred to as "Contract No. MED-583," is a long-term reconstruction project led by three city agencies: the Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Design and Construction (DDC), and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The project began strictly as a water main replacement, but as the agencies started work in 1999, they realized that the Financial District's narrow streets, filled with utilities below, required much more extensive restoration.
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BEEKMAN STREET, Cliff to Front Streets:The final cobblestone roadway repaving was completed in early August 2007, and crews finished curb and sidewalk installations in mid-August 2007.
For more information on the Wall Street Water Main Project and to subscribe to the daily email update list, visit www.outreachny.com or call community liaison Elizabeth Baptiste at (212) 791-8170.
Because of the extensive work and coordination of utility upgrades for the Wall Street Area Water Main project, work took place from summer 1999 through summer 2007.
Though the city makes every effort to keep traffic running smoothly amid the construction going on downtown, necessary roadwork and other projects sometimes require the closing of a lane, street, or sidewalk, the reversal of a one-way street’s direction, or a change in the timing of a traffic signal to accommodate detoured traffic. In any of these instances, DOT works to minimize the length of time such changes are needed.
The New York City DEP assessed the area’s water mains 1999 and found that they were the original mains installed in the early 20th century. To keep water flowing to residential and commercial buildings in the Financial District, DEP began working with DDC and DOT to replace the mains, along with other outdated utilities and conduits housed inside the roadbeds.
The Financial District streets are much narrower than most city streets, meaning that over the past century, as utility lines and ducts have been added below the streets’ surface, the space has grown increasingly crowded. DOT, DDC, and private companies like Con Edison have worked since the project began in 1999 to sort and organize the many utilities. After September 11, 2001, the operation was further complicated by damage to the streets’ surfaces during the rescue and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center. The agencies decided that the streets undergoing water-main construction were in critical need of complete reconstruction -- adding years to the already extensive project.
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