Riverhead has awarded a $3.5 million contract to Railroad Construction Co., Inc. of Paterson, N.J., to refurbish the long-defunct rail spur that used to serve the old Grumman manufacturing plant in Calverton, the site of the Calverton Enterprise Park. The contract is funded by the state department of transportation with federal aid obtained by Rep. Tim Bishop last year.
The rail spur, which connects with the Greenport branch of the LIRR, will be used to transport freight in and out of the enterprise park, known as EPCAL. Its refurbishment has been cited by officials as essential for the full redevelopment of the site, which was transferred by the U.S. Navy to the town in 1998, two years after Northrup-Grumman, once the town’s largest employer and taxpayer moved out.
Riverhead was awarded $1.5 million in state grants and low-interest loans to rehabilitate the dilapidated spur in 2002, but in 2004 decided to decline the state funding because of a condition requiring Riverhead to create 135 new jobs at EPCAL within three years after work on the spur was completed. At the time, it was also uncertain whether the state DEC’s wild, scenic and recreational rivers act regulations would prevent reconstruction of the spur. The DEC has since approved the plan.
Railroad Construction Co., Inc., whose bid came in at $3,496,684, was one of seven bidders on the project. The company, established in 1926, has constructed major railroad projects throughout the East Coast, including the construction of Hunt’s Point Market in the Bronx and, more recently, the refurbishment of 10 miles of track on the Bay Ridge Branch of the New York and Atlantic Rail Company, according to the company website.
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