Politics & Government

Jericho Turnpike Repaving to Start in Mineola this Week

Some lane closures as crews will work primarily from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

If you thought traffic on Jericho Turnpike in Mineola was bad already, it is about to get worse before it gets better.

Over the next 5 weeks, crews contracted by the New York State Department of Transportation will be repaving the entire length of Route 25 from Herricks Road through to Glen Cove Road.

According to the New York State Department of Transportation’s website, crews will begin work this week on the project, working night on Monday through Friday from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m.

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The project’s estimated time of completion is 5 weeks.

One lane in either direction may be closed between Herricks Road and Glen Cove Road.

Find out what's happening in Mineolawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Residents and businesses are advised to expect nighttime road closures and traffic delays during the construction.

Crews already went through the village in late July and early August doing preliminary work on sidewalks and handicapped accessible ramps.

“This is all the advanced work that has to be done once the state goes in and decides to do a project on a road that they have to check everything whether it be street lighting, traffic control lighting and handicapped ramps and the like,” Mineola Superintendent of Public Works Tom Rini said during a meeting of the on August 1 at the . “If the handicapped ramps aren’t compliant, they’re making them compliant in advance of that. So this is all just the prep work before they actually come in and start the mill and pave.”

The “mill and pave” work referred to is the actual tearing up of the roadway, scoring the road and the laying of asphalt down on the roadbed.

The entire repaving project runs the length of Jericho Turnpike from the New York City line in Floral Park to Glen Cove Road and will be completed by the end of 2013. The project was originally supposed to end at Herricks Road just outside the village, but through efforts of state and Mineola .

Contrary to original reports and preliminary sketches, the addition of center island medians are not part of the project within Mineola.

“The state is not in favor of them,” Rini said during a meeting of the village board on June 11, noting that the village had looked into installing them from Mineola Boulevard to Willis Avenue. While they are “proven traffic calming devices,” Rini said, “the unfortunate part that comes is the state will be more than happy to grant you that, but then you have to do all the maintenance of those facilities as well as take maintenance of the roadway and that was not something that we were willing to do; we weren’t willing to take upon all of that work.”

The first phase of the roadwork spans the entirety of Jericho within Mineola, which would have become the village’s responsibility, not just any individual block sections with islands.

“It becomes all or nothing with the state, that’s the problem,” Rini said, noting that the center “lane” is also often used by emergency responders to get through traffic.


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