Highway Super: Christian Avenue 'Is One of my Top Priorities"

If the second set of sarcastic signs that popped up on Christian Avenue over the weekend is any indication, locals are growing frustrated with the conditions on the roadway.

But in an interview on Tuesday, town highway superintendent Dan Losquadro – still in his first month on the job – said residents won't have to wait much longer before the road will be repaved.

"Given the condition of the road I can certainly sympathize with the residents," he said in an interview Tuesday. "We are going to undertake that project this year. That road is one of my top priorities."

The Suffolk County Water Authority and National Grid are each completing work that will improve their services in the area. Tim Motz, a Water Authority spokesman, said the agency has about two weeks left on its project of retiring an old water main along the Christian Avenue corridor that will also help enhance the ability of the local fire district to protect the area.

"We’ve been patching the areas in which we’ve dug trenches as the project proceeded, but as soon as work on the old water main has been completed, we will return to patch the entire length of the project again. At that point, the town will be responsible for a permanent repaving of the entire roadway," Motz said in an email to Patch.

Motz explained: "It can take time for the displaced dirt around the pipe to settle properly. If you do a permanent repaving too soon, it could crack if the area beneath is not settled, and then the road would have to be repaved again. So while it’s an inconvenience for motorists, the wait is for a good reason."

He said that residents who feel parts of the road need to be patched urgently can call the SCWA at 631-698-9500.

National Grid spokeswoman Wendy Ladd said a gas main installation will be completed on Christian Avenue by Friday.

Town councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld said he expects Christian Avenue to be re-paved this spring after the work that the SCWA and National Grid were doing in 2012 spanned the fall season.

"It is the first road I mentioned to Dan as I was congratulating his win," Fiore-Rosenfeld said.

Resident Jerry Meyer said he is disappointed in the town that the road conditions are the way they are.

"Many side streets in the area with far less traffic had been repaved over the past few years," he said in an email to Patch. "I do hope town officials take notice and initiate the needed repairs (repaving) to this busy road as soon as possible."

Losquadro assured residents that the town understands the situation. He said the weather needs to warm up to a stable temperature that will be warm enough for re-paving to take place. He also said it's important that the town is appropriately working with other entities such as the SCWA and National Grid to get the needed repairs and improvements done in a way that makes sense.

"We want to make sure that we are coordinating with those other agencies. We let them get their work done and then we’ll come up to do a complete repair," he said. "We’ll have a fairly good schedule to make sure that those other municipal entities have their work completed, so we know that once we do our final paving work, no one’s going to come in behind us and chop everything up and compromise the integrity of our roads."

Losquadro added: "As far as the individual who has the disposable income to keep putting these really funny signs up, we have an ecology center and we’re always looking for donations to help feed the animals. I’d happily take a check from them to support the animals at the ecology center instead of them just throwing the money away on signs we have to take down."