New Hyde Park Faces Another Hurdle on Jericho Turnpike Project

While construction crews are busy tearing up the medians along Jericho Turnpike readying for the repaving of the thoroughfare, the Village of New Hyde Park is attempting to navigate another piece in its puzzle of the revitalization of Route 25.

It’s “another roadblock that we hope to soon crossover,” trustee Donald Barbieri said during Tuesday night’s meeting of the village board at the village hall of now having to deal with various utilities on several corners of the project.

Barbieri explained that there is some debate over whether utilities such as National Grid would need to remove some of their apparatus and piping for gas out of the way and who would pay to move it if it were so needed. A signed utility agreement is required in order to move the project forward.

“We’re working hard to get past this,” Barbieri said “(I) believe we’re close to it and again, be out to bid on the process shortly. We’re working at arriving at some agreement with these groups. As soon as we can provide to them signed utility agreements, we should then be moving closer to going out to bid.”

Barbieri estimated that it would be April or May until the village was able to go out to bid and start its portion of project, which covers the beautification/ streetscaping/ repaving and providing traffic calming/ pedestrian friendly amenities.

“If it is traffic calming/ pedestrian safety, I think that they’re more likely to do their part,” Barbieri said of the utilities. “I think that in six months you’re going to find out if they lay the new road, lay all the final lines, we’re all going to be inconvenienced for a considerable period of time.”

The first step of the project is now for the utilities to install new gas mains, which would be followed by the installation of new traffic lights on New Hyde Park Road, Covert Avenue and at Lakeville Road. The village would then put in new pavers and streetscaping amenities before the state would begin paving. The entire project is expected to last for four months in New Hyde Park. By Barbieri’s estimate, if it were to begin in April, it would be finished in August.

“When we get these utility agreements concluded, I believe we’ve done everything else,” Barbieri said. “This is the last piece of the puzzle.”

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