The long-delayed repaving of Jericho Turnpike in Mineola by the state Department of Transportation is planned to restart on April 8.
Mineola and New Hyde Park village officials were informed of plans to restart during a meeting with DOT officials in state Sen. Jack Martins offices last Friday, according to Martins spokesman Joseph Rizza.
Work on the project had been interrupted by Hurricane Sandy after preliminary work by Flushing-based Tully Construction, the DOT contractor on the project, was done last fall.
“This was a project that was obviously supposed to be started already. But because of Hurricane Sandy the resources were diverted elsewhere,” Rizza said.
Martins had previously helped convince the DOT to extend an already approved project for resurfacing Jericho Turnpike from the Queens County line to Herricks Road in New Hyde Park, to Glen Cove Road in Mineola, Rizza said.
“I’m glad it’s getting done now, not later,” said Village of Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss.
Strauss said he was concerned that the start of the project, which is expected to take six weeks to complete, would be delayed until later in the year.
“They’re telling us by mid-May it should be done. Weather could play a part in it. But it’s good that it’s starting,” Strauss said.
The work will done between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. daily, beginning on Beebe Road and moving east toward Glen Cove Road, according to DOT spokeswoman Eileen Peters.
Peters said the top two inches of the Jericho Turnpike roadbed will be ground down and refilled. One or two lanes of the road will be closed between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. with at least one lane open at all times in both directions, she said,
Weather permitting, Peters said the 2.5 miles of the Mineola section of the project should be completed by the end of May.
“The overall project is still on schedule to be completed by the end of this year,” Peters said.
The repaving of Jericho in Mineola is part of a $21.1 million DOT project aimed at improving the roadway and increasing pedestrian and motorist safety.
The complete six-mile repaving project also includes improvements at every major intersection along Jericho Turnpike between 225th Street in Bellerose Village and Herricks Road.
The improvements will include the addition of turning lanes, new signals, improved turning radius at corners, updated traffic signals and new pavement markings.
