Traffic & Transit

Tear-Up Of 9th Avenue In Hell's Kitchen Finally Nears End

The water main work that has ripped up stretches of Ninth Avenue in recent years is nearly complete — and a new avenue will soon take shape.

Water main construction on Ninth Avenue near West 59th Street in June 2021. The nearly decade-long project will finally wrap up this year, with an avenue redesign implemented next year, the city said.
Water main construction on Ninth Avenue near West 59th Street in June 2021. The nearly decade-long project will finally wrap up this year, with an avenue redesign implemented next year, the city said. (Google Maps)

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — After nearly a decade, a city project that has torn up stretches of Ninth Avenue is finally nearing its end, and the city is promising a more pedestrian-friendly corridor once the work is complete.

Since 2012, the city has been working to replace aging water mains under Ninth Avenue between West 59th and 51st streets. In the process, long stretches of the avenue have been ripped up and lined with construction fencing, car traffic has been reduced from five lanes to three, pedestrian islands have been removed, and formerly protected bike lanes have been diverted.

At last, the water main work is now complete. Restoration of the roadway will start this fall and will be finished sometime next year, representatives from the Department of Transportation told Community Board 4 on Wednesday.

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The news will likely come as a relief to residents, commuters and business owners, some of whom complained in 2019 that the construction had driven down their sales by 30 percent.

Diagrams of the old (top) and future (bottom) designs of Ninth Avenue were presented to Community Board 4 this week. The city said a final proposal for the new avenue will not be ready until next year. (NYC DOT)

By the end of this year, the city will restore the roadway from 59th to 56th and 55th to 54th streets, painting temporary street markings and working around Open Restaurant setups that have sprung up during the pandemic.

Find out what's happening in Midtown-Hell's Kitchenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

By next year, those eight blocks of Ninth Avenue will be redesigned in keeping with requests from the community board. The biggest change: one car lane will be permanently removed, replaced with an extra 11 feet of painted sidewalk space on the avenue's east side.

The project was initially supposed to last just four years. Despite the hardships, city officials have called the repairs badly needed: the water mains under that stretch of Ninth Avenue had been in operation since 1870, well past their expected lifespan.

In their place, the city installed a 36-inch-wide water main and smaller, 20-inch and 12-inch-wide distribution mains under the avenue, while also upgrading gas, electric and communication utilities.

Board members reacted warmly to the news during Wednesday's meeting. When neighbor Charlie Todd asked whether the removal of a car lane could be continued further south, DOT representative Kimberly Rancourt suggested it was under consideration.

"We’re also looking at further along Ninth Avenue," she said.


Have a Hell's Kitchen news tip? Email reporter Nick Garber at nick.garber@patch.com.


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