Long Beach moves ahead with $6M drainage project to reduce flooding on city streets

Long Beach city workers are installing $6 million in drainage improvements to reduce flooding on city streets from storm surge and heavy rains.

The project is part of $20 million in state funding from the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery the city received after Superstorm Sandy in 2012, which also included adding bulkheads to public property on the city’s northern bayfront.

Construction started last month on National Boulevard, south of West Park Avenue to the boardwalk. City officials will also add drainage improvements to West Park Avenue between New York and Nevada avenues and also along Pine Street between Long Beach Road to Park Place.

City officials said the drainage improvements are being added to fix nuisance flooding from average storms and more severe weather like the tropical storms and hurricanes that have lashed the barrier island this summer.

"The city is pleased to finally see these important projects come to fruition," said City Council president John Bendo. "Residents in these areas have been dealing with routine flooding for years. More than just protecting them from major storms, the projects will improve the daily lives of thousands of our residents."

The city is looking to mirror similar work on a $1 million improvement to Edwards Boulevard that was completed in the spring. Additions included an underground storm sewer drainage system to reduce flooding, bike paths, concrete gutters and green space from Park Avenue to the boardwalk, said John Mirando, the city’s engineering consultant and former commissioner of public works.

"The last few storms, Edwards was dry when we had significant rain, and it’s proof these projects work," Mirando said. "Along National, we’ll have the same piping to store groundwater, and any excess overflow will go to the bay so the system won’t be overtaxed."

The drainage improvements on Park Avenue are expected to connect to a pump station at the end of Tennessee Avenue to push water into Reynolds Channel and remove debris from storm drains. City workers have seen a difference in nuisance flooding in chronic problem areas like Pine Street compared to where other drainage improvements have already been made, such as on Edwards and Neptune Boulevard.

Drainage improvements are expected to be completed by next summer, with National Boulevard planned to be done by the end of this year.

City officials said they expect the city to be hardened and better protected following a $10 million bulkheading project along the city’s northern bayfront to protect public land from the city’s West End along West Bay Drive. The city also added bulkheading through public canals along Doyle and Heron streets. The bulkheading to protect from storm surge was completed last spring.

The city was also awarded $20 million in disaster funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to add bulkheading on the north shore to protect critical infrastructure such as the city’s wastewater treatment plant, its water purification plant and electric substation. The city is erecting about a half-mile of steel bulkheading from under the Long Beach Bridge to National Boulevard.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.