Though I-287 is, in theory, a high-speed expressway, the validity of the label seems more appropriate for your supermarket”™s 12-items-or-less line than for central Westchester”™s major east-west link.
The epochal construction and reconstruction on I-287 has lasted since the early 1990s. The New York State Department of Transportation is involved in the third stage of the project now, which began in 2006 and is scheduled to last until late 2009 or early 2010.
Until then, you sit. You sit. You sit some more. At least during rush hours.
“Many of the milestones we were able to accomplish this past year have laid the groundwork for the next phase of stage 3 project,” said Greg Kisloff, the I-287 community liaison for the DOT.
“With the relocation of the Tennessee Gas pipeline adjacent to the westbound roadway, and much of the rock blasting now completed along the eastbound CWE, we were able to make the necessary traffic shifts in recent weeks to allow us to establish the work zones we will need to make 2008 a very productive year.
“While we have been able to use the limited daytime lane closures to our advantage, in this coming year, we will look to accomplish increasing volumes of work during nighttime shifts so as to maintain traffic flows on I-287.”
The current work, which involves exits six to eight, has become the source of familiar eyesores and reliable delays.
The work will continue at a number of sites throughout the project limits, including the Westchester Avenue, Grant Avenue and Brockway Place sites. Also involved in the project are utility relocations, retaining wall construction and temporary bridge preparations, in the areas of North Kensico Place, Lake Street and Woodcrest Avenue. The majority of construction is conducted during day shifts, the cause of single-lane closures and traffic stoppages. Utility relocation on North Broadway has been suspended for the holiday season.
The project”™s contractor is a joint venture between Yonkers Contracting Co. and Dragados Inc.
The current three-and-a-half-year phase 3 endeavor, which covers about 1.8 miles of roadway, is estimated to cost $150 million.
Though the project is an effort to make a busy roadway safer and less disruptive for surrounding neighborhoods, its track-record may leave pessimistic commuters and residents asking, will there be a fourth stage?
“Probably, but not yet,” Kisloff said of possible future construction. “While preliminary conceptual discussions have begun, and it is thought that the next phase will begin immediately east of this one, we will not know what is contained in that next effort until this project is substantially completed.”
Â
