By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — Traffic nightmares along a busy stretch of West 48th Street are about to multiply as the area gets ready for construction of a new water main.
The main, which would run along West 48th Street from Broadway to Tenth Avenue, would connect the existing water distribution system to the city's new Third Water Tunnel, a massive project designed to give the city another connection to its water supply upstate, said Craig Chin, a spokesman with the city’s Department of Design and Construction, which is overseeing the project.
The city is currently soliciting bids from companies to construct the main and once a vendor is selected, the comptroller's office will have to sign off on the project. Chin estimated construction would take two to three years.
In Lower Manhattan, where a similar project is currently underway, residents have complained about loud noise and narrowed streets calling the work "a nightmare."
Those who work along the Midtown stretch expressed concern upon learning of the preliminary plans, which, according to Chin, would require workers to tear up the street to lay the new pipes.
"Oh my God. That's going to be very messy if they do that," said Eric Bisran, 57, who lives in Queens and has worked as a bellhop at the Belvedere Hotel at 319 W. 48th St. for more than a decade.
He said the stretch has gotten busier over the years and was frequently clogged with pedestrians and cars.
"Everything is passing through now," he said.
The three block, half-mile stretch of West 48th is home to several other hotels, including the Crowne Plaza Times Square and the Best Western President Hotel, as well as several Broadway theaters, Morgan Stanley headquarters and a fire station.
Chin said emergency services would have "full access" during construction.
FDNY spokesman Steve Ritea said the department would work with the Department of Design and Construction and the Department of Environmental Protection to make sure they could get the project done in a way that would not impede the Fire Department’s ability to respond to emergencies.
"Whenever there’s a project like this, city agencies work together," he said.
But already, firefighters gathered at the station on the northwest corner of West 48th Street and Eighth Avenue were raising eyebrows.
The station's trucks almost always make a right out of the station onto West 48th Street and any construction would likely slow them down, Retired Lieutenant Bob Jackson said.
"It's always serious when the fire trucks go slower. Every moment counts in a fire," he said.
Another firefighter put it more bluntly: "That would definitely screw us up," he said.
In addition to traffic delays, businesses and residents would also face water shutoffs as workers connected the new pipes, Chin said.
City officials said the construction is essential to completing the Third Water Tunnel, a decades-old mega-project that will eventually allow the city's existing water tunnels to be repaired.
"This project will benefit the entire NYC population by providing a reliable source of water to all New Yorkers once in service," said Mercedes Padilla, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection.
The project is currently in the design phase and must still be approved, Chin said.
Once the city receives proposals from firms interested in doing the work, the department will have a better idea of the scope of the project and length of construction, he said.
The deadline for companies to submit their proposals is Jan. 4.
