Neverending East Houston Roadwork Decimates 2nd Avenue Intersection
This image has been archived or removed.
Stay away from 2nd Avenue and East Houston.
The city’s capital plan to replace infrastructure beneath East Houston Street is more than three years behind schedule, as previously stated. And yet there’s not much to show for it except roving staging areas, traffic bottlenecks, pedestrian detours, and loss to small businesses.
Most recently, contractors opened up the intersection of 2nd Avenue a few months ago. Late in the game already, purpose of this hell hole is to install a forty-eight-inch trunk water main. Well, the sub-job is intensifying. This component of the project, like others, is equally complicated by purported utility interference beneath the pavement.
This image has been archived or removed.
As a result, the triangular median island was uprooted and traffic flow totally altered to the point where it’s even more dangerous to cross the street. Bedlam.
The multimillion-dollar capital works initiative began on the west side of Manhattan over a decade ago and reached the Bowery around June 2010. This was the start of Phase II, initially slated to last three years. Not surprisingly, the estimate was thrice revised – first to December 2015, then September 2016, and most recently to October 2016.
Oh, and it’s worth reiterating that the two-way protected bike lane for Chrystie Street remains tied to the timeline this project. Its implementation is also planned for “fall 2016,” assuming the approvals go through (CB3 and the city). The aforementioned triangular median removed should return at the conclusion of roadwork.
This image has been archived or removed.
Recent Stories
Next Phase of Market Line at Essex Crossing Now Visible
With scaffolding and other construction elements removed from The Artisan building at Essex Crossing, another part of the Market Line is coming into focus. Unlike the westernmost third of the Market Line, this section beneath 180 Broome Street feels less like a dungeon. Design elements, including massive grand staircase and full facade glass open the […]
14-Story Eldridge Street Hotel Hit with Stop Work Order
The hotel newcomer underway on lower Eldridge Street – recently topped out at fourteen stories – met the might of the city. Inspectors from Department of Buildings issued a stop-work order on 79 Eldridge about a week ago. It’s a full order which only allows work “to provide shoring for all staircases and provide design […]
Eighteen Groups Sign Open Letter Demanding Transparency over CB3 Removal of Committee Chairs
Eighteen community groups within Community Board 3 on the Lower East Side this week co-signed an open letter to city and state officials urging inquiry into the removal of Alexandra Militano and Carolyn Ratcliffe as chairs of the SLA and Arts & Culture subcommittees, respectively. The shakeup, apparently inspired by a stated “new direction” for […]
East Broadway Subway Tiles Free of Disgusting Deposits
Down in the bowels of the East Broadway subway station, those hideous wall monsters are now a thing of the past. For years, the tunnel tiling devolved into a complete mess. Conditions were ripe for the formation of brown, slug-like deposits that grew ever larger by the week. Until this month, coincidentally the 85th anniversary […]
Chinatown Welcomes New Easy Access COVID-19 Testing Sites
Finally a step in the right direction. Pop-up COVID-19 test sites opened in Chinatown yesterday, providing much-needed alternatives to locals seeking a swab. The sites – one at 62 Mott Street, and the other at Confucius Plaza – offer walk-in swab tests and antibodies tests. Center Laboratories is handling testing and results, which are emailed or texted […]
