Road improvement project in Halesite finally set for completion — 16 years later

A road improvement project started 16 years ago in Huntington by the New York State Department of Transportation is finally moving toward completion.

In 2006, the state DOT began a project for road drainage improvement in the area surrounding New York Avenue, Creek Road and Hill Place in Halesite, Town Supervisor Ed Smyth said.

He said the state DOT was working to mitigate flooding issues by installing stormwater drains and conduits. But the job was only partially completed when workers came across a Huntington Sewer District line that needed to be moved.

“They worked around that portion of the overall road project and storm drain project,” he said. “But because moving the sewer line wasn’t critical, it [the project] wasn’t completed.”

But, Smyth said, the state DOT is now moving ahead with the project as part of a larger initiative to address drainage issues in Halesite.

Stephen Canzoneri, DOT public information officer for Long Island, confirmed that in an email.

“The New York State Department of Transportation expects to begin a project later this year in the Town of Huntington that will compliment work that was initially undertaken along State Route 110 in 2006 to address longstanding drainage issues in the area,” Canzoneri said in an email. “As part of an agreement with the Town, NYSDOT will relocate a town-owned sanitary sewer line and install the final portion of a large, bypass drainage culvert that will enhance safety and help to reduce instances of flooding in the area.”

Smyth said over the years there had been discussion of who was responsible for relocating the 24-inch sewer line, which is on Hill Place. Although the town has jurisdiction, the state DOT is taking over.

In 2006 the town received a $650,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Conservation to partially pay for the road improvement project.

“This isn’t really a sewer project, it’s really a roadwork story involving a sewer line,” Smyth said. “But it needs to be completed because we received the [DEC] funding.”

The town is eligible to receive an additional $145,000 in state DEC grant money to complete the project, he said.

Smyth said the project should go out to bid late next month, with the state DOT deciding when the project would begin.

The Huntington Town Board voted at its July meeting to approve a utility work agreement between the Huntington Sewer District and the state DOT for the project.