Flanders Road paving restarts on Thursday, May 14
The state Department of Transportation will begin repaving the other half of Flanders Road on Thursday and will be shifting traffic from travel lanes while work commences on those lanes.
The work is part of a $5.2 million project to repave seven miles of Flanders Road (State Route 24) between Lake Avenue on the west and Old Riverhead Road on the east.
The DOT completed from Old Riverhead Road in Hampton Bays to Birch Avenue in Flanders (just east of Longneck Boulevard) last fall and now plans to do the rest of the job, from Birch Avenue to Lake Avenue, near the traffic circle, in Riverside. The work last fall took about a month.
The work will take place each Monday to Friday, between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., weather permitted.
The work is expected to begin on the southern portion of the road, at Birch Avenue, and move north toward Riverside.
Local officials, businesses, and emergency service providers have been notified about the repaving project, according to the DOT.
The work involves removing and replacing the top layer of asphalt on the road and putting new pavement markings, including bike lane striping and more visible pedestrian crosswalks, officials say.
The poor condition of Flanders Road was cited by Southampton Town Police as a contributing factor, along with texting and driving, in a 2014 crash in which a PSEG truck crossed into oncoming traffic and killed a Hampton Bays woman who was driving the opposition direction.
“Motorists will be warned in advance of the lane shifts via portable electronic road signs,” said DOT spokesperson Eileen Peters in a press release. “Drivers who cannot use alternate routes are reminded to drive carefully through the work zone for their safety as well as the safety of the highway work crew.”
For up-to-date traffic and travel information, motorists should call 511 or visit www.511NY.org.
