Work zone: Where to steer around road projects this summer

Summer means a lot of things: Warmer weather, longer days, vacation.

It also means delays related to road work, as construction crews take advantage of the mild weather for long-planned improvements.

“We have a lot of work,” said Skip Vezzetti, Rockland County's superintendent of highways. “We have a very aggressive roadwork program scheduled for this year.”

That holds true for most of the region, with county and state agencies continuing ongoing projects or jumping on opportunities to upgrade paving or make other needed repairs.

Here's a rundown of major projects in the area, and what to watch out for:

Westchester, Putnam projects

Westchester County, which oversees 160 miles of roads, is in the thick of the $17.9 million Ashford Avenue Bridge reconstruction project, which began in earnest June 14 when traffic was cut down to one lane in either direction.

The bridge, which straddles the Ardsley-Dobbs Ferry line, the Saw Mill River Parkway, the state Thruway, a walking trail and a town road, will see yet-to-be-scheduled night closures on the parkway and Thruway in July and potential day closures later in the summer for footing and pier construction.

The bridge reconstruction will not finish until the fall of 2018.

The county is also exploring a multi-day closure of the Fulton Avenue drawbridge between Mount Vernon and Pelham to fix a crack. The Westchester Board of Legislators passed a $2.85 million bond act in January for various repairs to the bridge, which spent a chunk of 2014 closed due to problems.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Transportation has two ongoing bridge-replacement projects over the Saw Mill parkway in Pleasantville, one over Pleasantville Road and another over Bedford Road. Those projects will necessitate the closure of the parkway between Exit 27 and Grant Street overnight until July 1. Then the highway will be cut down to one lane in each direction for 21 days from mid-July until the end of August as crews work around the clock.

Work on the Saw Mill parkway over Kisco Avenue in Mount Kisco is also ongoing, with work related to the superstructure potentially affecting traffic during non-peak travel hours. That project should be finished by late summer 2017.

The state is conducting paving projects on Route 116 between Route 22 and Route 121 in North Salem, Route 120A between Putnam Avenue and the Connecticut state line in Rye, Route 22 from Milltown Road to Route 202 in Southeast, Interstate 684 from Hardscrabble Road to Route 35 in North Salem, Bedford and Lewisboro, and the Saw Mill River Parkway from Roaring Brook Road in New Castle to Kisco Avenue in Mount Kisco.

On the New England Thruway, sporadic overnight lane closures along I-95 from the Bronx line all the way to Rye and the I-287 interchange will continue into the summer, with the Thruway Authority expecting construction to wrap up in the fall. The closures are for road and bridge work and bridge inspections.

The final stretch of the highway, from the I-287 interchange on the eastern edge of Rye through Port Chester to the Connecticut border — known as the Last Mile Project — is in the design process and construction is not scheduled to begin until next year.

Thruway Authority officials said there was no construction planned for the current Tappan Zee Bridge that would affect traffic. Work will be focused on the Hudson River on the new bridge.

Rockland County

In Rockland, Vezzetti's department is planning work on more than 25 county-run roads, though much of it is short term.

Bigger projects include the well-trafficked Forshay Road in Ramapo, where the county hopes to ease traffic for the 15,000 cars a day that travel there while making it safer for pedestrians. The $12.5 million project is "moving along right on schedule," Vezzetti said.

Since breaking ground last year, crews have installed a large culvert under Forshay Road, built a roundabout and raised the street itself. The road remains open, although Vezzetti admitted, driving there is “not the easiest.”

The roundabout that was installed at the intersection of Forshay, Willow Tree and Wilder roads has yet to be completed. Pavement markers still need to be put down, along with another layer of asphalt to cut down on the exposed manhole and drains, which are currently raised and proving obstacles for drivers. Yield signs, instead of stop signs, need to be added, too.

Work on the $14 million new Orangeburg Road bridge is also continuing. Right now, traffic is limited to one lane in each direction. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

For its part, the state DOT will continue paving, resurfacing and performing drainage work on Route 59 in Hillburn and Suffern, from Route 17 to Route 202 and on Route 202 in Ramapo from the New Jersey border to Route 59. That work might result in lane closures, but the impacts are expected to be minimal after July.

The state is also planning roadwork on Route 45 in Chestnut Ridge that could result in lane closures, but no date has been set. There, crews will pave sections of the road and perform drainage work between the village line and Red Schoolhouse Road.

Rocklanders can also expect lane closures on the Thruway in both directions along a roughly 6-mile stretch from Exit 14 to Exit 14B across Nanuet, Monsey, Viola and Montebello. Those closures, which the Thruway Authority says will be on off-peak hours to minimize the impact on travelers, will be for bridge repair. The Thruway Authority said the work will run through the summer and into next year.

Staff writer Michael D'Onofrio contributed to this report.

Twitter: @coynereports