Water Main Break on Atlantic Ave, Flatbush Avenue and Court Street Choke off Brooklyn Traffic
News Update on the water main break
The Water Department is unsure as to the present status of the break. For
information on transit they referred you to the above phone number for the
Department of Traffic. They also gave the following Phone Number for Subway
information 1-718-330-3331. No one answered the phone at this number
and the TA's regular Subway information phone number is now only open from
6AM to 9PM at night.
So this is the situation: At 10PM at night, with a water main break
which can potentially strand East New York, Brownsville, Crown Heights,
Bedford-Sty, Flatbush, Midwood, Flatlands, Sheepshead Bay, Mill Basin,
and parts of Park Slope, NOT A SINGLE city agency thought Brooklyn was
important enough to man phones after people would be coming home and catching
the nightly news reports of the Water Main Break which can potentially strangle
general access to Manhattan from all of our Subway Lines accept the A,
G, and F trains and general road access to the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.
In addition, keep in mind that the Gouwanas Expressway is under reconstruction
with limited or no access from Central Brooklyn to The Prospect Expressway
accept via Hamilton Avenue and lane closures on the Gouwanas itself.
Also be aware that 48 inch water main breaks create massive damage to the roadway and construction repair can be expected in the coming weeks.
Lastly - It should be noted that the City is aware that many of our water mains need to be replaced. But up till now, it has been the position of the City that it is easier to just let them burst then doing the massive work which is needed to repair the mains. In this case, this main, if it would have broken during rush hour would have no doubt caused loss of life, and will complicate an already impossible traffic situation in downtown Brooklyn with the Manhattan Bridge, Flatbush Ave, the BQE and most of our major subway lines currently under repair.
We will make an on the spot inspection of the sight tomorrow and report back to you
Mayor Guilliani's email address
Monday
2-11-97 1 PM
After yesterdays water main break on Court Street and Atlantic Avenue, two lanes of Atlantic Avenue have been closed off for repair on one of the oldest road beds in Brooklyn.
The water main which broke was located on the north side of Atlantic Avenue, across from and in front of the public parking garage located on the north-east corner of Atlantic and Court Street. Sidewalk pavement on Atlantic Avenue in front of the garage had been thrust up at a 45 degree angle near the garage wall from water damage.
By 11 AM on Monday afternoon, one-half the width of the four lane roadway
on Atlantic Ave. had already been turned-up with centuries old cobblestone
stacked on the sidewalk, and the main itself had been repaired, its cracked
section removed. The new pipe was covered up by soil and dirt and on the
sidewalk lay a section of a 4 foot wide pipe, neatly cut, the remnants
of the new water main which was lowered into the ground and welded into
place.
The police covered the area, controlling traffic in every direction
two blocks around and a cement truck was on the scene, ready to lay new
roadbed over the topsoil. When asked by this reporter how long half of
Atlantic Avenue would be closed down, one worker said for a couple more
days. When asked if this would be enough time to put in a quality roadway
since many emergency road repairs sink after a year, the worker said that
on those sites either the ground was not packed hard enough or the cement
used was not correct. But he was confident that the road would be properly
repaired.
So it happens, the entire Borough lucked out, for if this break would
have been four blocks East, and during rush hour, most of Brooklyn's transportation
Grid would have been paralyzed and loss of life could have occurred within
the Atlantic Ave. Subway Station. Water mains in the area have recently
had problems, including one main very close to the DeKalb Train Station
for the D, Q, N, and R lines. With this current water main break on Felix
Street, near the Williamsburg Bridge Bank, it seems to have undermined
the foundation of a home on Felix Street.
It would seem, with so much at stake, that it would be logical to have
the water mains in this area replaced prior to the need of emergency action.
In fact, this can be said about all the water mains in NYC. But downtown
Brooklyn is particularly suspect for problems do to the age of the water mains
in that area, and the bottleneck of underground subways in the area, the
largest concentration of stations and tracks in New York City.
Rumbling subway trains can contribute to the wear and tear that these
pipes endure. In addition, in some areas around Long Island University
and DeKalb Avenue, whole sections of sidewalk are suspended over empty
holes as water leaks and weather have removed solid ground and soil under
the sidewalks. With so much recently invested into the downtown Brooklyn
area, an infrastructure failure could set us back for years.