Lawmakers: Project delayed to reduce Route 110 floods

An $18.9-million road-improvement project to reduce flooding on Route 110 in Halesite has been delayed because the contractor did not secure the necessary bonds, state legislators said Friday.

Work on the second phase of the 18-year-old project was set to begin this fall and be completed in 2012, legislators said.

"We're all outraged by the [Department of Transportation's] lack of performance in the process," said state Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-Syosset). "The people of this community literally have to drive with a life jacket in their backseat in order to be safe."

Marcellino, alongside Assembs. James Conte (R-Huntington Station) and Andrew Raia (R-East Northport), found out Friday morning that the DOT had canceled the agreement with the contractor, Marcellino said.

DOT spokeswoman Eileen Peters said the process was delayed because the failure to pass a budget earlier in the year stopped funding for road projects.

The funding delay forced the DOT to extend the contractor's deadline until July 2, Peters said. When the contractor did not meet the deadline to secure the funding, the state canceled the agreement with the contractor and all other bids, Peters said. The DOT declined to identify the contractor.

Marcellino said the DOT should have assured that the bidder had the money before contracting the bid with them. "We cannot have the DOT issue a contract to a company only to find out after the fact that the company can't meet the requirements of the bid," Marcellino said.

Mayor Herb Morrow of Huntington Bay, which borders Halesite, was disappointed by the delay. "Our residents have been promised for years that this was going to be fixed," he said.

The project hopes to reduce flooding conditions and improve the quality of storm-water roadway runoff along the 1-mile stretch of Route 110 by Creek Road.

The plan includes building roundabouts, raising the road by one foot and creating a retention basin.

The first phase of the project rebuilt the sewers from High Street to Prime Avenue about five years ago, Conte said.

Peters said the DOT will begin accepting bids again in October and with construction hopefully beginning in December, a two-month delay from the original start date.

With Jennifer Smith