New Hempstead Road

On January 17, I met with Charles (Skip) Vezzetti, the Superintendent of Highways for Rockland County.  Superintendent Vezzetti and his leadership team of engineers advised me that the remaining construction on New Hempstead Road up towards the gas station will be complete by June 2014.  County work was halted due to the winter weather in early January, but is expected to resume in mid-February.  I have requested that the contractor stop the practice of closing a lane of traffic during the morning rush hour when cars often back up from the Palisades Parkway through Phillips Hill Road and beyond.  Except for the time when the last retaining wall is being constructed, we should see much less congestion between mid-February and June than previously.

By the time the project is completed, it will be a full year late.   According to our Highway Department, almost the entire delay is attributable to Verizon's work relocating poles and its own wiring infrastructure.  Placing blame on Verizon is not isolated to this project as the Town of Clarkstown also contends that the delays on Main Street in New City were often the result of Verizon.  I have reached out to Verizon for a response, but have not heard back as of the preparation of this report.  

The good news on the New Hempstead Road project is that federal and state funds covered 95% of the cost of the improvements and the County's share was only approximately 5%.  The project is estimated to cost $28 million, with approximately $4 million paid by the utilities and the remaining $24 million split 80% to the federal government, 15% to the state and the remaining 5% paid by Rockland.