NEW ROCHELLE, NY — New Rochelle residents should prepare themselves for a summer of major traffic headaches starting later this month as Suez Water begins a project to replace the water main on Eastchester Road, a project ordered by the New York State Public Service Commission. The road will be restricted to one lane, in sections, six days a week, throughout the summer and possibly longer.
The road is a major East-West artery in New Rochelle, connecting North Avenue to New Rochelle High School at Clove Road and Holy Family Church at Mount Joy Place, interecting with a major North-South artery at Webster Avenue and to the Hutchison River Parkway entrance/exit off Pelhamdale Road.
To expedite the work, initially scheduled to run 5 to 6 months, two crews will work simultaneously, with one crew working from Pershing to Webster and the other from White Oak to Webster. New Rochelle will allow work to go on later in the day and on Saturday to further hurry the work along. The hope is complete the work before the beginning of the new school year in September.
Suez contractors will work to upgrade the current water main with a 16 inch water main between Pershing Avenue and White Oak Street on Eastchester Road.
The expected start date is Monday June 27th but is subject to change.
Suez Water will hold a pre-construction meeting on June 21st. The New Rochelle City Engineer will attend and provide additional information to the public.
At night, all trenches will be plated and two lanes restored along Eastchester Road.
The main East-West detour road will be Mayflower Avenue.
Suez Water will manage communication to the effected neighborhoods by sending out letters, robocalls, and using online message boards. Suez will pay for police officers to manage traffic around the two work crews and place detour signs.
Con Edison will also be involved. Where a water main encroaches on a cast iron gas main, Con Edison will replace the gas main. Con Edison will be following Suez Water work crews as they go through each intersection.
The City of New Rochelle intends to piggyback on this work while the trenches are open. Drainage will be added, as needed.
Area residents can expect to experience limited service interruption as crews close gas and water service as they do “tie-ins” to cross streets.
Talk of the Sound has agreed to collect reader questions and forward them to city officials to be asked of Suez at the Pre-Construction meeting on June 21 so if you have questions please email robertcox@talkofthesoud.com. We will post them here and forward to the city engineer. We will provide an update on this story after the Pre-Construction meeting.
Questions for Suez:
1. Can Suez ratepayers add additional contact info to the Suez robocall list to make sure they are contacted at any preferred phone number?
