TOP: Photo courtesy of the city Dept. of Design and Construction.
BELOW: Downtown Express photo by Sam Spokony
BY ZACH WILLIAMS | Two-way traffic on Chambers St. will resume as far east as West Broadway in April as the four-year overhaul of the street continues to move forward.
Drivers will have to wait until autumn at the earliest for full access to return to the remaining segment of the project which runs on Chambers from Church St. to Broadway. Construction meanwhile will continue on the final two stages of the more than $24 million effort to improve the street between West St. and Broadway.
While unseen delays are plausible, a city official told Community Board 1’s Tribeca Committee on March 12 that numerous targets will be reached next month such as the completion of work at the intersection of West Broadway and Chambers St. as well as the installation of bus pads on the latter east to Broadway.
Despite an earlier extension of the project beyond an original 2013 end date, it could finish earlier than a Nov. 26 deadline, according to Shah Jaromi, director of infrastructure-Manhattan for the city’s Dept. of Design and Construction.
“We are anticipating (completion) by the end of this year,” he told the committee, adding that work could finish by September.
Among tasks still to be done are final paving between West Broadway and Broadway, utility work, water main installation and the relocation of communication facilities, he said during a presentation to the committee.
Workers have also addressed issues with traffic signals, water drainage, and pedestrian traffic in addition to reconstructing the street itself.
Updating water mains for the 21st century is what initially motivated the city to begin the project in 2010, Jaromi said.
“These (water) mains are 135 years old,” he said.
