Brookhaven, Water Authority Reach Agreement on Christian Avenue

An agreement reached between the Town of Brookhaven and the Suffolk County Water Authority will allow town crews to start repairing certain parts of Christian Avenue while the SCWA is still completing its own work.

After it finished water main work on the road, locally known as one of the roughest roads in town, the SCWA still had yet to lay concrete over the pipes – a critical process, officials said – thus creating frustration among local residents who thought the town was simply dragging its feet on the project.

Now, the town crews will work on “parallel tracks” to enable the town crews to start milling the road and re-doing the curbs, driveway aprons and sidewalks before the SCWA completely finishes a temporary layer of asphalt over its trenches, according to Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro and SCWA spokesman Tim Motz.

“Under the arrangement, SCWA, under an existing paving contract, will provide a temporary asphalt patch over our water main after the road is milled by the highway department,” Motz said. “After that and while the highway department is installing curbs and sidewalks, SCWA will install a permanent layer of concrete over the pipe, and the highway department will then complete the permanent paving of the roadway.”

Losquadro said this arrangement is the most expeditious way to get the reconstruction project moving. He said right now the town and the SCWA are coordinating their schedules, a process that he said he hopes will be completed by early next week so both parties can get started.

“I know people have been waiting on it for quite some time,” he said. “It’s not a process that happens overnight, especially when we’re coordinating with utility companies.”

He added: “We want to make sure we do it right, that we don’t have to come back in subsequent years and cut this road open again.”

Even though Losquadro said local residents were given letters at one point explaining the delays, a series of illegal street signs began appearing, posted by an anonymous party, to poke fun at the highway department and utility entity. Among the slogans on the signs were “Your Tax Dollars at Work,” “Winner Worst Road in America Contest,” and “For Expert Tire Repairs Call Dan at 451-9200.”

“Regardless of what that time frame is, it is certainly my intention, obviously, that this work will be completed this paving season,” Losquadro said. “People have been living with this road in this condition for a long time I ask for their patience for a little bit longer.”