By Forum Staff
City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice (MOCEJ), NYC Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks), and the NYC Department of Emergency Management (NYCEM) on Friday joined elected leaders to announce that the City has been awarded $3.1 million in federal grant money, via the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES), to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study and alternative analysis to address and mitigate flooding along Brookville Boulevard between 149th Avenue and Rockaway Boulevard—known as “Snake Road”—along the Queens/Nassau border.
Snake Road extends for approximately .8 miles along Brookville Boulevard through tidal wetlands of Idlewild and Hook Creek parks and serves as a critical transportation corridor in Southeast Queens, connecting the Rockaway Peninsula and Nassau County’s Five Towns to major arterials including the Cross Island Parkway and the Belt Parkway.
The roadway was constructed inside wetlands with no turnoffs and is often at a similar level to the tides, leaving Snake Road highly vulnerable to disruptive flooding and tides. In fact, in 2019 the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was forced to reroute buses due to these occurrences, and the situation presents many additional challenges to be addressed in the study.
For example, the study will take into account regulatory constraints such as environmental and wetland mitigation requirements, and the fact that several utilities are located in the area as well. The funding will allow the city to include extensive topographic analysis and traffic data collection, and will also include a significant community engagement including with sister city agencies, state partners, community boards, civic organizations and elected officials.
The Brookville Boulevard Flood Mitigation Study is expected to take 30 months and cost $3.4 million (equaled out with a city funding match). It will consider several mitigation options, all with the goal of improving traffic safety and the ecological health of the surrounding wetlands:
- Raising the existing roadway to various elevations (long-term)
- Rerouting the roadway, creating a shorter, more direct path between 149th Avenue and Rockaway Boulevard (long-term)
- Strategically placed signs and warning devices to improve conditions ahead of any potential capital improvements (short-term)
“While I’m thrilled to have secured this vital funding for Brookville Boulevard, the real victory belongs to the community,” State Sen. James Sanders Jr. (D-South Ozone Park) said. “This grant is a testament to the power of collective action. For two years, we stood together, raising our voices and demanding a solution.”
The study is expected to launch next year, the City Department of Transportation said.
“Flooding along Brookville Boulevard has been a frustrating issue for years, so I’m thrilled to see our government partners investing in a comprehensive feasibility study and alternative analysis to finally help mitigate this problem,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. “We’ve already invested $2 billion in flood-mitigating infrastructure improvements across Southeast Queens, which I’m proud to have secured, but there is still much more work to be done, both along Brookville Boulevard and elsewhere. Studying how to address flooding and ultimately implementing new infrastructure along the roadway will undoubtedly impact Southeast Queens for the better.”
