Plainfield Avenue in Floral Park will be closed to traffic between Miller Avenue and Vandewater Avenue on Saturday so PSEG can begin pole replacement work.
The utility company had initially planned for the work to begin on Feb. 1. However, village officials were not notified until the day before.
The work is part of the Empire State Development Corp.’s Belmont Redevelopment Project.
Deputy Mayor Kevin Fitzgerald said that with the help of state Sen. Anna Kaplan, village officials were able to temporarily stop the road closure in order to devise a properly vetted traffic mitigation plan.
“I’d like to add that with a little cooperation from all people involved things can happen,” Fitzgerald said. “But when plans just come upon us it gets very difficult and a lot of work and time was spent in Village Hall on Friday to try to arrange it so that if it did happen it would be workable.”
Village Mayor Dominick Longobardi said that instead of closing the street over three weekends, the utility company agreed to narrow the work to just one day.
“We ask the residents on both streets not to park their cars on the street on Saturday,” Longobardi said. “We want to keep the streets as wide open as possible to get the work done as fast as possible.”
He added that the village will also send notices to residents in the area to inform them of the road closure.
According to Longobardi, to make sure PSEG workers aren’t there longer than they need to be, there may be a minor closure on Friday evening, as well as possible one-lane traffic on subsequent Saturdays. However, he said, PSEG representatives assured him this will not cause any detours for cars.
During the work on Saturday, cars will be routed around Floral Park Memorial High School along Locust Street between Miller Avenue and Vandewater Avenue. Floral Park police will close Plainfield Avenue to truck traffic heading south from Jericho Turnpike, and PSEG with the Nassau County police will prohibit truck traffic coming north on Plainfield Avenue heading from Hempstead Turnpike.
In addition to the updates on the Belmont Redevelopment Project, members of the Board of Trustees also welcomed members of Floral Park Boy Scout Troop 482, who attended the meeting on Tuesday as part of earning their Citizenship in the Community badge.
