Route 347 Update: Utility Work Nears Completion

Motorists driving westbound along Route 347 in Hauppauge may find themselves gradually shifting north in the weeks ahead. 

Eileen Peters, spokeswoman for the New York Department of Transportation, said utility work is nearing completion along the one-mile stretch of Route 347 under reconstruction. There have been fewer utility crews from Suffolk County Water Authority, LIPA, Cablevision, Verizon, AT&T and others on Route 347 over the past week, according to Peters.

Construction workers can now move full speed ahead with making room to expand Route 347 to provide for three lanes in each direction.

"Workers will be excavating and grading to widen it, and shift the traffic north," Peters said.

The DOT has received phone calls from local residents asking if the pile of sand in front of Citibank will be used to build an overpass above Route 347. Peters said the reconstruction plans call for the Route 347 and Veterans Highway intersection to be reconfigured, but an overpass is not in the plans.

The ongoing construction is to transform 15 miles of Route 347 into an environmentally conscious, motor and pedestrian-friendly highway stretching from Hauppauge to Port Jefferson. The one-mile stretch in Hauppauge from the Route 347/454 split to the Route 111 intersection is scheduled to be completed by 2012.