Popular Rockaway street gets new look with first-of-its-kind porous concrete
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Officials cut the ribbon on the new Beach 108th Street in the Rockaways on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
Construction on Beach 108th Street, a popular Rockaway Beach corridor for locals and beach visitors alike, finally wrapped up on Tuesday after a tumultuous building process that frustrated neighbors.
The $17 million project, which completely renovated the corridor that connects the Rockaway boardwalk to the Rockaway Beach ferry stop, includes new roads, parking, a two-way bike lane and new porous pavement meant to help absorb stormwater, the first of its kind in New York City.
“People here in Rockaway have been waiting for this day for a very long time,” said local City Councilmember Joann Ariola. “We now have this beautiful new street to welcome visitors to our community. I look forward to what the future holds.”
The project initially came out of funding given to Rockaway post-Hurricane Sandy, and the design for the new street was made with input from members of the Rockaway Beach community.
The changes also included new turn signals and other safety measures on the street, as well as new water mains and storm sewer rehabilitation.
“[Rockaway residents] are seeing flooding, they're seeing the basement backups,” said Department of Design and Construction Commissioner Tom Foley. “So building bigger sewers is great, putting in more catch basins on the street corners is great, but we really need to make our surfaces more permeable so that they soak up that rain.”
That new permeable concrete, which the city says will allow for nearly 1.3 million gallons of stormwater to be absorbed a year, is new to city design.
“The really really cool factor is that this is the first time on a city project that we have our permeable concrete,” Foley said, adding that if it didn’t work, he would have to refurbish his resume.
“DDC is working with [the Department of Environmental Protection] and [the Department of Transportation] to transform the city’s streetscape in every borough,” Foley added.
However, the project had its complications.
A seemingly irregular construction schedule often closed the surrounding roads without warning, which lagged throughout last summer, residents complained.
“We've seen a lot of traffic disruption and inconveniences while this project is ongoing, but now we can finally move past that and enjoy this beautiful new street,” Ariola said on Tuesday.
In addition, owners of the bungalows on Beach 108th Street were frustrated last summer, telling The Wave that the design was not what they expected, and that the road would be too thin for emergency vehicles and parking would be even more stringent.
However, Ariola says that most of those concerns were fixed, and Community Board 14 Chair Dolores Orr says that she has not heard any more complaints.
“As much as we tried to explain the vision, a lot of folks didn't see it, now that it's done, not a word,” she said.
