East Hartsdale Traffic Jams continue

Sewer project may not wrap until November

BY DEBORAH SKOLNIK

By now, many local residents have seen the ongoing roadwork project on East Hartsdale Avenue. A major effort to fix a sewer break is underway, creating inevitable slowdowns and occasional traffic snarls.

Don’t expect those problems to end anytime soon, says Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner, reluctant bearer of the bad news.

“This project is uniquely challenging due to: the age of the pipe and manhole; the depth of the sewer pipe; its proximity to multistory buildings, including some sections being located underneath multistory buildings; the amount of congestion and traffic in the area, including pedestrian and vehicular traffic; and other active construction projects in the area,” he explains.

To immediately address the problem, Greenburgh installed a temporary bypass to the broken section of the sewer, which allowed for an investigation of the damaged piping and the area surrounding it. A cleanout then revealed that a lateral connection to a manhole was broken as well. Further excavation and investigation are needed to determine the exact location of the latter break.

The complicated situation is being approached with care; a consultant was brought in to design shoring for the excavation, with an eye towards stabilizing the excavation opening and the integrity of an adjacent building.

Depending on how quickly things go, the work is expected to be completed between October and November.