Suffolk County to Start Process of Paving Main Street in Hampton Bays

Suffolk County has advertised a bid to start the process of paving Main Street in Hampton Bays, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced on Friday.

The project was a combined efforts of officials at all levels of government, including New York State, Suffolk County and the Town of Southampton.

The estimated $1.7 million project should begin construction this fall.

“Hampton Bays has waited a long time for this project and I’m glad that we were able to come together to find a way to end that wait,” Bellone said. “This is what happens when officials at all levels are willing to work together in the common interest.”

According to Bellone, Senator Ken LaValle and Assemblyman Fred Thiele secured state fundin.

In addition, Legislator Jay Schneiderman helped secured county funding and Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst along with the Southampton Town Board, were also involved in the project.

The project will pave an approximately 2-mile stretch of Montauk Highway in Hampton Bays from State Road 24 to Bittersweet Road which has not been repaved in the past decade.

The project is now moving forward on an expedited timeline and will be advertised on August 7, bid on September 9 and then construction will begin on October 9.

While there is normally a three month gap from when a project is bid to when construction begins, officials have agreed to expedite it in this case.

“I’m glad all three levels of government worked together to get this important project back on schedule,” Schneiderman said. “This project, scheduled to begin this fall, will greatly improve road conditions on Main Street in Hampton Bays.”

The project was originally estimated several years ago to cost approximately $600,000 and Senator LaValle and Assemblyman Thiele secured state grants in 2013 to do the work.

However, since then, new guidelines requiring making sidewalks more accessible due to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) raised the cost of the project to $1.7 million.

While Suffolk County budgeted the $1.1 million difference to allow the work to happen, bureaucratic issues between the state and county related to reimbursement threatened to set the project back even further.

However, the Southampton Town Board unanimously agreed to step in and advance the funds.