A major $15 million repaving project is ahead for New York State Route 25 on the North Fork in 2015.
According to Eileen Peters, spokesperson for the New York State Department of Transportation, the NYSDOT plans to provide an asphalt pavement overlay on Route 25 throughout the North Fork between the end of County Road 58 — just west of County Route 105 in Riverhead — and Orient Point, under two separate contracts, for a total cost of about $15 million next year. The entire project spans 30 miles, she added.
The contract is awarded to the lowest qualified bidder; the bid for each of the two contracts was lower than the original DOT engineer’s estimate, she said.
The overlay project also includes some drainage work and some updated signs, Peters said.
“The top one inch of existing NY Route 25 pavement will be removed and replaced with one inch of new asphalt to help preserve and extend the service life of the existing pavement. It is still early in the construction process so we do not have additional details about the construction schedule,” Peters said this week.
At Tuesday’s Southold Town board work session, Councilman Bill Ruland, during a discussion on a proposed new bus shelter pitched for outside Southold Town Hall, said if sidewalk work needs to be done as part of the bus shelter project, “now is the time to give the state notice.”
Of the repaving project, he said full plans have not been detailed yet. “I’m hoping it’s better than the last attempt to resurface Route 25,” he said.
The last time Route 25 was repaved on the North Fork was between 2002 and 2005, Peters said.
