New Hyde Park 2012 Village Roadwork Rolls On

The Village of New Hyde Park is “well under way” with its 2012 road construction project, with all flatwork and elevation work completed according to superintendent of public works Tom Gannon.

“We’re right on schedule. Everything is where it should be right now.”

Crews began operations to get ready for the asphalt on October 15 on Sixth Avenue, Tenth Avenue and Third Avenue with the final grading taking place on October 17

“They should be ready for asphalt by (October 19),” Gannon said at village hall during the October 16 meeting of the village board, “weather permitting.”

On Jericho Turnpike however, the village has noted that there have been disruptions due to state crews shutting down lanes in preparation for the repaving of Route 25.

“They need accessibility to the curbs and sidewalks that they were working on, some of the intersections with the signals and opening up, I guess doing experimental, seeing what’s in the ground, what they’re going to need to prep before the full project comes through,” Gannon said. “We’ve been getting slow traffic through the area because of this.”

Gannon stated that it was his belief that the crews “were pretty much done with the handicapped ramps at this point. That’s the initial portion of the project, replacing certain grades and sidewalks and curbs to meet the new asphalt as well. So this is going to be quite an ongoing project and we’re in the very early stages.”

The repaving project stretches along Jericho Turnpike from the city line to the end of Mineola on Glen Cove Road. The project has suffered several delays, reportedly due to the contractor, Tully Construction, being stretched thin on conducting work on several projects in the area at once.

Trustee Donald Barbieri and Gannon attended a meeting with New York State Sen. Jack Martins and representatives from the villages of Bellerose and Floral Park on October 11 to discuss the project and its timeline with the state department of transportation.

“We found out some interesting things,” Barbieri said

Beginning the week of October 22, National Grid will reportedly be installing a new gas main going from North 12th Street to Jericho Turnpike, down Jericho, crossing Ingraham Lane down the sidewalk to New Hyde Park Road, diagonally across the street and up the opposing sidewalk until South 16th Street.

“They want to increase their ability to serve the community and they think that they need to add another line,” Barbieri said. “The only time they can be out in the street is between South 12th and Ingraham, at which point they’re going to go back onto the sidewalk and then run down the length of the sidewalk.”

The other current construction entails work on utilities underground, which sometimes have to be moved in order to allow the company which will be retiming the traffic lights to conduct their work.

“They believe they’ll get all the underground work done in regard to whatever changes the utilities need to be made before the cold weather sets in,” Barbieri said. “They will then send out their electricians who will do whatever they need to do to prepare to put the new traffic lights in. And then depending on how the weather treats us through the winter, they would try to move to the conclusion of that project. Otherwise the lights themselves might not come out until maybe next March.”

There are reportedly 4 separate contractors on the project: National Grid for gas mains; a contractor for the traffic lights for which the handicapped ramps are associated; the state department of transportation contractor - Tully Construction – and the village’s contractor for the new pavers to be installed as part of Operation: Downtown.

Barbieri added that planters in the medians of Jericho Turnpike are also scheduled to be installed beginning in March 2013 at the city line and moving from east to west

“It’s going to be challenging, but hopefully it’s going to be super-attractive when it’s all said and done,” he said.