Sewers Will Reduce 'Impassable' Gowanus Flooding, Officials Say

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — New sewers along Ninth Street in Brooklyn will keep feet dry, streets open to traffic and prevent more pollution from reaching the Gowanus Canal, officials said.

The $27 million sewer upgrade finished a year early, city officials announced Tuesday. The project covered Ninth Street in Gowanus and Carroll Gardens, but complements work affecting the wider canal area, they said.

Council Member Brad Lander, who represents Park Slope and parts of Gowanus, issued a statement that doubled as a checklist of environmental accomplishments.

“These improvements to the storm sewer system, coupled with the recent restoration of the Flushing Tunnel, the new CSO tanks that will be built as a part of the now-underway Superfund cleanup, rain gardens, and new storm-water retention regulations on private development, lay the ground work for a healthier, more sustainable, and more resilient Gowanus for years to come," he said.

The project added new stormwater and sanitary sewers along 9th Street between 2nd Avenue and the Gowanus Canal, along with other sewers up to Smith Street and Seventh Street, a release said. The city's Department of Environmental Protection funded the project to the tune of $27 million and its Department of Design and Construction did the actual work.

Rainstorms in the past have snarled travel along the road, the release stated. Officials hope the improved sewers will prevent that in the future.

“The new catch basins and storm sewers along Ninth Street have already improved drainage and helped to reduce the flooding that in the past has made this important east-west connection impassable during heavy rain storms,” said DEP Commissioner Vincent Sapienza in a statement.

It's not the only high-dollar sewer project between Gowanus and Park Slope. Officials are currently working on a $53 million project to install nearly three miles of high level storm sewers along Third Avenue, a release stated. That project will also reduce street flooding and pollution flowing into the canal during storms, it stated.