Riverside traffic circle

A proposal to build a new gas station and convenience store on the Riverside roundabout met with skepticism from Southampton Planning Board members last week and faces stiff opposition from the Flanders, Riverside and Northampton Community Association.

Local officials and community residents came together today to celebrate the completion of the newly reconstructed Riverside roundabout.

The long-vacant derelict building — once the site of a busy diner and before that, a Howard Johnson's restaurant — is being demolished today to make way for offices and future apartments.

Contractors will begin working on drainage installation in the vicinity of Woodhull Avenue and eastbound County Road 94/Nugent Drive, according to the resident engineer on the project.

Work on the Riverside traffic circle reconstruction project is on hold for the winter and will resume in spring when weather permits.

Work on the Riverside roundabout project will move to nighttime hours in the coming week, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.

County and town officials were joined by civic leaders and community members for a ceremonial groundbreaking at the traffic circle Tuesday morning.

Workers have begun relocating utility lines in the Riverside traffic circle, where groundbreaking on the $4 million reconstruction project will take place at the end of this month, according to County Legislator Bridget Fleming.

The legislature also approved $4 million in bonding to fund the construction project, which officials and residents hail as a crucial component of revitalization in the Riverside hamlet.

County Executive Steve Bellone had sought to delay funding for the reconstruction project to 2018, a move that drew fire from local elected officials, community activists and residents.