Night road closures at Exit 61 of LIE, state says

The Long Island Expressway is being closed at Exit 61 for about three weeks for night road work near Patchogue-Holbrook Road/County Road 19 on the bridge that spans the expressway, the state transportation department said Tuesday.

The eastbound main travel lanes of the LIE is closed at that exit Sunday through Thursday from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and the westbound lanes is closed Monday through Friday between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., the transportation department said in a news release. The nightly closures are expected to go on for three weeks, depending on weather, and traffic will be diverted to the LIE's north and south service roads.

The department said the LIE closures are due to the $9.6 million LIE-County Road 19 Bridge rehabilitation. Scheduled improvements include providing a new structural bridge deck, new roadway approaches, wider shoulder lanes, a new sidewalk, improved traffic signals and fresh landscaping, according to the release. The project is currently scheduled to be done by the end of 2016.

Currently, two southbound and one northbound CR-19 bridge lanes are open, the department said, and single lanes are being closed on the LIE's north and south service roads between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Motorists can find real-time travel information by calling 511 or visiting www.511NY.org. Travel information is also available from the INFORM Transportation Management Center cameras at www. INFORMNY.com, and on mobile devices at www. INFORMNY.mobi.