Suffolk County contractors tomorrow will begin the final phase of the Roanoke Avenue reconstruction project begun about a year ago.
Contractors are scheduled to begin milling the road surface, starting tomorrow with the section between Main Street and the Long Island Railroad tracks, according to information provided by Suffolk County Department of Public Works to County Legislator Al Krupski.
Work will progress north from there, according to DPW. “We anticipate two to three days of milling. From there we’ll be performing full-depth repairs and then the final overlay thereafter,” DPW said in a statement emailed to Krupski.
“We will send an update as the information evolves,” the agency said. “It is our intent to complete the paving operations prior to the start of school.”
The extensive road, sidewalk and drainage project carried a $3.6 million price tag and was originally scheduled to be completed this spring.
The stretch of Roanoke that belongs to the county runs from Main Street to County Route 58. (Roanoke north of Route 58 is a town road.)
The project was undertaken because the pavement is in poor condition; the roadway’s existing drainage system was deteriorating and inadequately sized; untreated stormwater runoff was being discharged into Merritts Pond; the existing curb and sidewalks were in poor condition and did not meet ADA standards; and traffic signal equipment required upgrades.
Progress faced several logistical delays, most recently the wait for utility poles to be relocated, according to Krupski.
Krupski said one of the most important benefits of this project is one that is largely invisible to most residents and motorists: the improvement of the drainage system that drains water off Roanoke Avenue, Cranberry Street and Southern Boulevard. The stormwater runoff had been discharged untreated directly into Merritts Pond via one 30-inch diameter pipe.
New gutters and leaching pools have been installed and all stormwater discharge from those systems will pass through a new stormwater treatment system designed to screen, separate and trap debris, sediment and oil. The new systems will reduce stormwater discharge into the pond by 50 percent, Krupski said.
In a separate document provided to the legislator by DPW, the agency said the primary objectives of the project are rehabilitating existing pavement, drainage systems, curbs and sidewalks. The agency listed its key features and objectives:
- Reduce travel lanes to consistent 11-foot width and to make shoulders a consistent 4-foot width.
- Rehabilitate existing asphalt pavement using a combination of full depth restoration and resurfacing (mill/overlay)
- Make all sidewalks ADA compliant – 5-foot minimum width, meet slope requirements, ramps and detectable warnings at intersections
- Replace curbs
- Remove trees that are causing heaving and/or safety issues and plant new street/wire friendly trees (approximately 6 over entire length of job). We will attempt to place new trees on private property if the property owner is amenable.
- Rehabilitate/replace existing drainage system and add leaching basins to reduce flow to outfall.
- Install Hydrodynamic Stormwater Treatment System at Southern Parkway discharge location to treat remaining stormwater flow
- Install permeable concrete gutters in vicinity of Southern Parkway to reduce flow to treatment system and Merritt’s Pond.
- Rebuild the signals at CR 73 and 2nd St and CR 73 and Pulaski, this will include new signal and pedestrian poles, new heads, new pedestrian equipment
- Upgrade the pedestrian equipment to countdown timers at CR 73 and Railroad, CR 73 at CR 43
- All new pavement markings and signs. The markings will match the existing layout.
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