State to repave major Long Island roads, runway at Republic Airport

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office announced projects totaling $58 million to repave several major state routes on Long Island, as well as a runway at Republic Airport in East Farmingdale and other roadway improvements.

Some of the projects will be completed this year, others next summer, Hochul's office said Tuesday.

Major repaving will take place on Route 24 (Hempstead Turnpike/Conklin Street) from East Meadow to Farmingdale, on Route 110 (Broadhollow Road) from Melville to Amityville, and on Route 25 from Commack to the Village of the Branch.

Concrete repairs and upgrades to improve traction will take place on sections of the Sunrise Highway in West Babylon and the Sunken Meadow State Parkway in Kings Park/Commack. A total of 104 lane miles of road will be resurfaced and a handful of major intersections will be reconfigured to "reduce congestion" and "improve accommodations for pedestrians," according to the governor’s office.

Upgrades to traffic signals include replacing in-pavement vehicle detection sensors with vehicle detection cameras, which detect vehicles in real time queuing at intersections.

Repaving on 110, 24 and the Republic Airport runway are to be completed this year, the state said.

By the end of this year, the state transportation department plans to repave State Route 24 between the Meadowbrook State Parkway and Route 110 at a cost of $16.7 million, and to repave State Route 110 from Baylis Road to Sunrise Highway at a cost of $17.6 million. The latter project will also upgrade 280 curb ramps to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards as well as improve traffic signals, crosswalks and lane markings along 110.

The state will also spend $6.7 to resurface one of Republic’s two runways by the end of the year. Runway 1-19 will be closed for the duration of the repaving, and all operations at the state-owned general aviation airport will cease for about a week while crews complete work at the intersection of the runways.

Other road projects are to be completed by next summer.

By next summer, the state said it will repave and upgrade drainage and crosswalks along part of Route 25 in Suffolk County, between Kings Park Road in Commack and State Route 111 in the Village of the Branch. The project, costing $10.1 million, will also reconfigure the intersection of Route 25 with Mount Sinai-Coram Road in Coram by adding new lanes, sidewalks, curb ramps and turn signals.

Also by next summer, the state will add or extend turn lanes at the following intersections: Northern Boulevard (State Route 25A) at Community Drive in Manhasset; Fulton Street (State Route 109) at Main Street in Farmingdale; and Jericho Turnpike (State Route 25) at County Route 14 (Harned Road/Indian Head Road) in Commack.

The state will also make concrete pavement repairs and improvements to increase skid resistance along Sunrise Highway between Exit 38 (Belmont Avenue) and Exit 39 (Hubbards Path) in West Babylon, and along Sunken Meadow State Parkway near Old Northport Road in Kings Park/ Commack.

The governor said the projects will help "modernize our transportation network and provide safe, reliable infrastructure that travelers can depend on."

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said in a statement that the funding "will go a long way in to improve the public’s safety, and hopefully address traffic in these areas."

By Peter Gill

peter.gill@newsday.com