LIPA to town: Expect six weeks of noise and traffic snarls

No pain, no gain.

That was the mantra repeated by Island officials and a Long Island Power Authority representative Tuesday on the power pipeline project scheduled to run from Crescent Beach to the North Fork.

LIPA District Manager Steve Tricarico told the Town Board at its work session that residents should expect, at a minimum, six weeks of heavy construction noise and traffic disruption. The $9 million project should start next week, Mr. Tricarico said, as LIPA drills under the bay, working 12 hour days, seven days a week.

At least six parking spaces will be taken over by construction crews at the beach, the Historical Society parking lot will be used as a staging area and  Goat Hill will be affected by the project. Traffic will be slowed and/or diverted along New York Avenue and West Neck and Shore roads as pipes are staged and deployed running down to the beach.

But it has to be done, since there’s only one workable line bringing power to the Island from the North Fork, said Supervisor Jim Dougherty, Commissioner of Pubic Works Jay Card Jr., and Police Chief Jim Read. There were two power cables coming from the north, but Hurricane Sandy knocked one out last autumn. The other power line is old and not completely reliable. Without a new, reliable energy source and summer right around the corner bringing a spike in electricity demand, there’s a good chance of overload and blackouts. On top of that, with hurricane season arriving at the end of the summer, if the Island had only one, unreliable cable from the North Fork, there is the possibility of a catastrophe, Chief Read said.

The six-week schedule is a conservative estimate, Mr. Tricarico warned. The construction could take longer if rock is encountered under the bay instead of sand. But Mr. Tricarico couldn’t give a specific timeline if the project strikes unfriendly terrain.