The water main replacement project on Summit Avenue and Grandview Circle in Plandome Heights is due for completion next week, Mayor Kenneth Riscica said.
The new water main is part of a $600,000 project by the Manhasset-Lakeville Water District to upgrade the current pipes, which are undersized by law, Riscica said.
Construction has been going on for three months on the 2,700-foot stretch of road, which involved a complete excavation to take out the old main. The current pipes have been in service since the 1930s, and officials from the water district said the new system will improve hydraulics, water pressure and water quality.
“The project continues to go well,” Riscica said Monday at the trustees meeting. “We are very satisfied with the Manhasset-Lakeville Water District. They’ve done a great job.”
The roads that underwent construction will be completely rebuilt and resurfaced once the project is complete.
“They broke the road where the road was broken to begin with, not in good places, so it maximizes the road restoration,” Riscica said.
The village used the opportunity to partner with the water district crew while it worked, contributing $40,000 for the improvements.
“Working with us they gave us the opportunity to add some work that we wanted done,” Riscica said. “So we did some road improvements with their crew since the crew was there.”
When the project was proposed in February, residents were receptive to the improvements but raised concerns about the disruption road construction could create.
“I have a new sidewalk which will be dug up. I also would like to have access to my own home,” a resident, Nickita Mik, said at a water district meeting.
Riscica said the village already had experience with the crew after Bay Driveway underwent a similar water main project three years ago.
“Our main concern is that the work is done in a safe and careful manner, and that the roads and sidewalks are restored to at least as good as they were, and we’re very pleased with they way the water district has done that job,” Riscica said.
In other business, a separate road improvement project is almost ready to go to bid for the renovation of the Waterway, the Neck and Cove Drive. The project is being funded by a road grant that the village received last year. Riscica said the village has reached out to contractors to inform them about the bids, which will be due on Aug. 11.
