Makeover on Route 25A in Head of the Harbor gets go-ahead for fall

A long-awaited project to mill and resurface a busy section of Route 25A is scheduled to begin this fall in Head of the Harbor.

The work will be completed on 25A between Edgewood Avenue and Moriches Road, one of five Long Island locations where the state Department of Transportation plans to repair damage resulting from years of severe weather conditions and traffic.

Village Mayor Douglas A. Dahlgard said the road is in awful condition and that cars are forced to travel below the speed limit. "It's like a washboard," he said. "I'm glad they're going to be fixing it. I can't wait."

The road has been a problem for years, and patching has been an unsatisfactory temporary solution, Dahlgard said.

He said he was first told there wasn't enough money to fund the repaving. Last winter, he wrote to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, and in May, the DOT officially notified the village that the project would happen.

DOT spokeswoman Eileen Peters said department officials look forward to providing a restored road for village residents. "We're doing our best to keep up with it, but during 2016, there should be a nice, new, fresh, safer, smoother pavement for the area," she said.

Four other locations also are slated to be repaved, including sections of Route 25A in Riverhead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay. Repairs are also planned on Route 231 in Huntington and Route 106 in Oyster Bay. The total project is estimated to cost $14.9 million; Smithtown's portion will cost about $900,000, Peters said.

The final design was submitted in June, and bids for contractors will be opened in August. Officials anticipate that construction will begin in the fall and be completed for all five locations by spring 2016, Peters said.