Repaving on Middle Road planned for Monday and Tuesday, weather permitting

Major work on an heavily trafficked town road is set to begin Monday morning.

The Riverhead Highway Department will be repaving two stretches of Middle Road in Riverhead, Northville Turnpike to Roanoke Avenue and Osborn Avenue to Mill Road. The road will be closed to most traffic in those areas while the project is underway. It is expected to take two days to complete, Highway Superintendent Mike Zaleski said this morning.

“We’re asking people who live on Middle Road in those areas to try and get shopping and errands done ahead of time,” Zaleski said. The highway department will have crew members at all intersections to assist residents, he said.

Residents who live on Nadel Drive and adjoining streets should use Joyce Drive to access Roanoke Avenue, Zaleski said. Residents in the Tall Oaks Development should use Ellen Street to access Northville Turnpike, he said.

“I know it’s an inconvenience but it’s very important to get this done,” the highway superintendent said. “I’m trying to stay ahead of things.”

“Starting Monday they will grind everything down, and on Tuesday they will pave,” Zaleski said. Paving work by nature is weather-dependent, so the project will be postponed in case of inclement weather. As of now, there is no rain in the forecast either day, according to the National Weather Service.

The work has been contracted out to Rosemar Construction, an East Moriches-based company that specializes in asphalt milling and paving. Highway Department staff will handle traffic control and assisting local residents, Zaleski said.

“I will have men at everything intersection helping,” he said.

MIddle Road, which extends to just past Manor Road in Calverton the west and to Doctors Path on the east, is a heavily traveled road. Zaleski said he’s tallied up the number of residences in developments off Middle Road and counted about 3,000. Residents alone probably account for 4,500 vehicles on Middle Road every day, “plus people who use it to bypass 58,” he said. Then there’s commercial traffic like delivery trucks, county buses, ambulances and the like.

The traffic volume takes a toll on the road surface. “That’s why I’m grinding it down and repaving,” Zaleski said, instead of just repaving.

The highway superintendent said he’s spoken to the senior communities and has had highway staff go door to door with notices in the area. Electronic signs have been posted at intersections along Middle Road for at least a week. Zaleski said he’s also spoken the Suffolk County Transit, since Middle Road is a county bus route, and to local emergency services and town police.

“We appreciate everyone’s cooperation and apologize for the inconvenience,” Zaleski said.

Other sections of Middle Road are not scheduled for repaving this season, he said. “The only other major paving job I’m planning this summer is River Road, from Edwards Avenue to Main Street, which we’ll do as soon as National Grid is finished with the work it’s doing in the area,” Zaleski said. The utility company work involves digging and trenching in the public right of way, so there’s no point repaving until they’re done, he said.