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TeamMisha t1_iw52dzm wrote

Reply to comment by MichaelRahmani in 9th Ave redesign by MichaelRahmani

> Why would they not actually extend the pavement to make it seamless?

The NYCDOT's strategy is to avoid what is called "capital construction", or pouring concrete or utility work, at almost any cost. This is why they only almost always do painted treatments such as painted curb extensions, aka bulbouts, medians, refuge islands, etc. You're probably asking well if they save all this money, when do they ever do capital construction? I can't tell you, despite the budget approved this year being 1 billion dollars, no clue lol. The biggest "problem" with expanding the sidewalk is drainage, you would need to move every catch-basin which involves digging up the road and can be quite costly.

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RAXIZZ t1_iw56qej wrote

> NYCDOT's strategy is to avoid what is called "capital construction"

AFAIK, capital projects have to go through DDC. So it's not just much more expensive, but also requires cross-agency collaboration, which means it's basically impossible.

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TeamMisha t1_iw57050 wrote

I believe you are quite right that sounds very familiar and you're spot on, some projects are already miracles to begin with so if you add two agencies into the mix then it's a giga-miracle, and 3 or more... not even god himself can achieve the coordination 💀

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kapuasuite t1_iw7c49r wrote

New York City's bureaucratic feudalism never ceases to amaze me.

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nycfoto t1_iw7dlb4 wrote

DDC is part of the cross-city agency collaboration for decades. DDC, DOT and DEP are sister agencies that work in tandem, but not always in the correct order.

For example, they would repave the road over a long stretch.....then rip up the streets to expand water mains and sewer pipes. Then patch up the pavement. Instead of doing it the other way around. Replace the underground pipes THEN put fresh new asphalt pavement.

I know. I used to work for DDC ;)

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SI_MonsterMan t1_iw7lk2l wrote

Sounds like the revamping of the South Ferry terminal and Peter Minuit Plaza that had been rebuilt and torn up a half dozen times from 1990 to 2010.

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nycfoto t1_iw7msso wrote

Ridiculous. Perhaps the contractors didn't build to spec. Drainage issues, possible post-9/11 secured barricades?

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Dragon_Fisting t1_iw7d2zs wrote

Do they have to move the basins though? Couldn't they connect the extended sidewalk to the current catch basins with diagonal holes?

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TeamMisha t1_iw8r1c4 wrote

So I think there are ways to do it whereby you keep the current basins and cover conduits basically for the water to flow into them, but I am not 100% sure of current design standards if that is what the city would do or consider

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