Repairing the Nassau Expressway

DOT plans to upgrade 878 in 2019

Posted

The timetable for improvements to state Route 878, also known as the Nassau Expressway, has been moved up six years, to 2019, New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Matthew Driscoll said.

At a state budget hearing in Albany on Feb. 15, Driscoll said that a multi-million-dollar renovation project for the roadway is in the works, and is scheduled for 2019-20. The expressway, which stretches from Rockaway Turnpike, in Lawrence, to the Atlantic Beach Bridge, is susceptible to severe flooding after heavy rains.

Roughly 40,000 vehicles travel the expressway daily, according to DOT figures. It connects motorists from the Five Towns to Kennedy International Airport and New York City, and is a designated evacuation route for South Shore residents, including the barrier island communities of Atlantic Beach and Long Beach.

“We are committed to [an] extreme weather-hardening program for that stretch of road,” Driscoll said. Improvements could include road elevation, the synchronization of traffic signals, the construction of additional lanes and other traffic-mitigation measures.

State Sen. Todd Kaminsky asked Driscoll when Route 878 would be repaired at the hearing, and Driscoll said that thanks to Kaminsky’s advocacy, the DOT is addressing the roadway much sooner than originally scheduled. Initially, it was not slated for improvement until 2025, with a budget of $61 million. Less than two years ago, $6 million of that money was spent to repair the road and upgrade drainage along the section that runs from Lawrence to the bridge.

Driscoll said that an official announcement, coming soon, would detail the timetable and scope of the project. He confirmed that the tens of millions of dollars the state is willing to spend would fund the largest and most comprehensive overhaul of the roadway to date, and add to the DOT’s original capital plan, officials said. The exact figure has yet to be released.

Kaminsky said that complaints about the expressway inundate his office. “As a major emergency evacuation route for tens of thousands of residents, NY878 is one of the most important roads on Long Island, and its overhaul is a much-needed safety upgrade,” he said. “I look forward to hearing specifics on what this project will involve, and will continue to push for the necessary improvements to ensure the safety of my constituents.”

County Legislator Howard Kopel, a Republican from Lawrence, in collaboration with former State Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder, a Democrat from Far Rockaway, have campaigned for the state to repair the high-traffic road for the past few years.

“I appreciate what they’re doing,” Kopel said of the DOT, adding that he commends Kaminsky for “keeping this at the forefront of his agenda,” and plans to continue to work with him. “I continue to believe that the construction of a bypass over the commercial strip of Rockaway Turnpike is critical, and … ultimately will solve the daily traffic problem experienced by residents and ease concerns over emergency evacuations, if necessary,” Kopel said.

“It’s a great idea,” Atlantic Beach resident Barry Ringelheim, a longtime proponent of improvements to a roadway he travels daily, said of the project. “I just hope that a storm like [Hurricane] Sandy doesn’t occur prior to the work being done, or getting off this barrier island from either Long Beach or Atlantic Beach will be catastrophic.”

Cedarhurst Mayor Benjamin Weinstock said that the DOT’s commitment to improving the expressway is a “big step in the right direction” for Five Towns residents. “We depend on 878 and Peninsula Boulevard as our only coastal evacuation routes,” he said. “This is long overdue, and we hope that this will continue with the completion of the construction of the balance of 878 into Queens.”

Have an opinion about improvements to the Nassau Expressway and Rockaway Turnpike? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.