The MTA retained Rogers Marvel as part of a team to protect the subway from a 100-year storm despite streets and storm sewers that are designed for a two to five year storm. The project addresses a number of flood prone areas in Queens including a 3.5-mile stretch of Hillside Avenue developing a modular solution which can be applied to other areas. The solution creates a new streetscape as it responds to the varied depths of expected flooding, established by a hydrological study that marks the minute topographical distinctions that shape the flood. Recognizing that the broader problem is driven by issues like infrastructure and soil permeability that are outside the project's scope, the design creates a permanent expression for an intermittent problem that needs to be immediately addressed.
