NYC raises roadways to limit flooding in Broad Channel

A new bulkhead outside a home in Broad Channel. Photos courtesy of DDC

By David Brand

The city has lifted streets and improved sewers to prevent flooding in Broad Channel, a strip of land surrounded by the rising tides of Jamaica Bay. 

The first phase of the $46 million project was completed Monday by the Department of Design and Construction and the Department of Transportation. The city also added thick bulkheads along waterfront properties on the island, home to about 12,000 people. 

The raised streets include West 11th Road, West 12th Road and West 13th Road from Cross Bay Boulevard west to the waterfront. The city lifted each street by about two feet and rebuilt the roads atop 40,000 feet of new piles sunk at least 50 feet into the ground. The project also includes about 2,400 feet of new sewers.

Officials expect to complete the second $67.7 million phase of the project in the summer of 2024. 

The city raised some roads in Broad Channel.

Broad Channel was devastated by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and is particularly vulnerable to flooding as sea levels rise as a result of climate change, said DDC Commissioner Lorraine Grillo. 

State Sen. Joseph Addabbo said the project will “go a long way in protecting this vulnerable community from large storms and flooding.”