Flooding on Sunrise Highway in Valley Stream prompts storm drain cleaning

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After reports of multiple instances of excessive flooding on Sunrise Highway near Legion Place, local officials are working with the New York State Department of Transportation to determine the cause of the recurring torrent.

“Because this never happened before I thought it had something to do with the new paving — either damage to the storm drain system or the new pitch of the roadway is overwhelming the storm drains,” said resident Michael Belfiore, who witnessed the flooding on Sept. 1.

The first major flood he witnessed coincided with an ongoing repaving project in the area, he said, which, according to the NYSDOT, would repair and repave a three-mile stretch of Sunrise Highway that is burdened with 50,000 vehicles per day. Belfiore said the flooding blocked traffic along two lanes of Sunrise Highway, and that the water rose as high as the mufflers.

 According to NYSDOT spokeswoman Eileen W. Peters, several drainage basins will be cleaned in the vicinity of Rockaway Avenue within the next week or two, which should help alleviate roadway flooding. Peters said the completion date for the construction is December 31, 2016.

As part of the construction project, the top layer of the damaged pavement is removed then replaced with new asphalt. Following the repaving operations, traffic signal vehicle detector loops will be replaced and fresh pavement markings will be installed which requires approximately two additional weeks of nighttime road closures.

Senator Todd Kaminsky formally requested that the NYSDOT expedite the cleaning process in a letter sent on Sept. 14.

“Residents have informed my office that the drains on the eastbound south side of Sunrise Highway are clogged and need to be cleaned out,” the letter stated. “The road floods when it rains, causing major congestion and delays on this heavily trafficked road. The flooding is so severe that water has begun to pool on Legion Place as well as Sunrise Highway.”

Village Trustee Vincent Grasso said that if the cause of the flooding were an engineering error, it would likely be reparable. If the flooding was due to a rising water table, he said, the problem would be more complicated to address.

“We’re trying to get to the bottom of things and we’ll touch base as we go,” he said.