Officials Work to Minimize New City Construction Impact and Make Information Accessible

As construction work prepares to ramp up in New City, Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski (D-New City) and Rockland County Legislator Ed Day (R-New City) are working to make sure the public has access to information about project timelines and planned  detours.

Work has been ongoing along Congers Road in New City as part of the South Main Street Revitalization project that began last year. At the same time, tree clearing is in progress along New Hempstead Road in preparation for the rebuilding of the two-mile long stretch between South Main Street and the Palisades Interstate Parkway.

The South Main Street project is expected to be completed in 2012, whereas New Hempstead Road's rebuilding will run into 2013.  

Day and Zebrowski announced Monday they met with county and town officials to coordinate the long-term construction projects. Officials from the Town of Clarkstown, Clarkstown Police Department, Rockland County Highway Department and Rockland County Sheriff’s Office attended. Zebrowski and Day requested that the county and town establish web sites for posting construction plan updates. 

“It is important that both construction projects work in conjunction with the community to ensure that there is minimal disruption to businesses and residents,” said Zebrowski.

“Coordination, information flow, and respect for the community living with this project are the matters uppermost in my mind, and I am heartened by the cooperative spirit shown to date by both the County of Rockland and the Town of Clarkstown," said Day. "With effective follow through by the project engineers, I have great hope we will get through these projects as smoothly as possible, resulting in New City being the beacon for Rockland County.” 

The Rockland County Highway Department information link is http://www.co.rockland.ny.us/highway/newhempsteadrd.htm. It contains five sections: project goals and descriptions, construction schedule, project timeline, project team and project general plan outline. 

The project general plan outline breaks the construction zone into five areas and includes project drawings for each. They are:

• the Palisades Interstate Parkway to West Clarkstown Road
• West Clarkstown Road to Lynhaven Drive
• Lynhaven Drive to Little Tor Road
• Little Tor Road to Eberling Drive
• Eberling Drive to North Main Street

Information can also be obtained by calling the at (845) 638-5060. 

Clarkstown is creating a web site for updates on the South Main Street project. Until that is available, call the office at (845) 639-2050. According to the supervisor's office, the web site will be operational by late summer when work is scheduled to begin from along South Main Street from Third Street to where it merges with Route 304.  

That portion of the project is expected to go to bid soon. Once construction begins, email updates will be sent to businesses  in the area where the work is taking place. In the meantime, work on is likely run until mid November.

Additional tree removal along may be necessary for movement of power poles and road improvements including the planned pedestrian and bike path. Tree clearing listed on the current work schedule continues through June 16. Orange and Rockland is handling the work, county project engineers are reviewing and approving it before any work is done.

Total construction costs for rebuilding New Hempstead Road include $28.5 million for reconstruction, $2.1 million for design and $600,00 for right of way expenses.