Crews Prep for Construction on New Winthrop Research Building

Late-night drivers in Mineola will want to avoid Mineola Boulevard as construction crews are currently digging up the roadway at Second Avenue to install equipment and infrastructure at the .

Construction on the project will occur over the next 18-24 months according to village building superintendent Dan Whalen, who said at the September 5 meeting of the that the final construction plans, which were in excess of 200 pages, arrived at the village building department that day, with a permit anticipated to be issued to the hospital for construction sometime this week.

Barricades have already been placed on Mineola Boulevard and Second Street and demolition of the existing community center and La Cisterna restaurant is expected to take place shortly after crews have finished their work installing the underground utilities.

The night of September 6 a crane placed in the middle of Mineola Boulevard completed the lift for some HVAC equipment.

The road closures for street work will primarily consist of cutting and preparing the roadbed with the installation of utility vaults to house equipment for teledata services, computers and fiber optics as all are going underground. All overhead lines from the building as well as telephone and electrical poles will also . This first part of the project is anticipated to be completed by November.

Whalen said that it was his belief that crews would work Sunday to Thursday nights from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Mineola Boulevard would be opened fully during the rush hour times.

“They’re trying to keep everything off that street during the course of business hours,” Whalen said. “And then be out of there before rush hour, say, 5:30, six o’clock the next morning. They may be out of there before then, they may leave at two or three.”

The village has also worked out a traffic pattern for the neighborhood and businesses.

“That’s going to become very busy down there, we’ve made provisions, considerations for safety with a sidewalk bridge, flagmen, personnel, all types of different things that they’re going to need for that project,” Whalen said.

A 24-hour phone number for personnel, the construction crew and hospital staff would also be available should any problems occur. Security, both private as well as those employed by Winthrop, will also be present on a daily basis.

“Obviously my office will be intimately involved with this on a daily basis,” Whalen said.