Montauk Highway Road Work Postponed Till Next Week

A Montauk Highway road resurfacing project that was expected to start this week has been postponed until next week because of the threat of bad weather, according to Eileen Peters, the regional public information officer for the State Department of Transportation.

The project will target trouble spots on Montauk Highway, also known as Route 27, between Water Mill and East Hampton.

“The aim is to complete the project before the snow,” explained Ms. Peters. “This is a temporary fix for the problem … but the worst areas are being addressed to get drivers through the winter months.”

The repaving work can be done only in dry weather, Ms. Peters said, and rain is expected later this week.

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. announced the plans for the work in a press release on Friday, stating that the DOT had agreed to perform spot treatment of certain sections of the roadway that are most dangerous to motorists. He added that he had requested the project be expedited in response to complaints from constituents.

Even with the deferred kickoff, the DOT expects the first phase of the roadwork to be finished by the end of November. The DOT plans to resurface the entire highway from Water Mill to Montauk in 2012.

The project next week will require some lane closures, but where at all possible the DOT will keep both lanes open, Ms. Peters said. When an entire lane must be closed, there will be alternating lane shifts to maintain the flow of traffic, but drivers should expect some delays, she said.

Roadwork will focus on several bad areas along Montauk Highway beginning in Water Mill at Warren’s Nursery and then at Willow Road. Work will resume at McCoy Real Estate in Bridgehampton, and in Wainscott, near the former Plitt Ford building and at Wainscott Northwest Road.

In East Hampton, the work will resume near Stephen Hands Path, Georgica Road, Jericho Road, Cove Hollow Road, Baiting Hollow Road and Woods Lane and Buell Lane and Route 114. The project will conclude at the Egypt Lane-Accabonac Road intersection at the end of November.