Year in Review: 347 Under Construction

It's been dubbed Long Island's first Greenway, a major thoroughfare that infuses smart design, ecological considerations and mixed-use into the modern highway. But for locals of the Hauppauge-Smithtown area, the construction to rehab Route 347 has brought with it traffic problems and business headaches. And it's only going to continue. So join us as we look back on the Route 347 stories of the past year.

1. - It started off easy enough, with the parts of the project that would not interfere with traffic.

2. - By the time a June heat-wave hit, the heavy machinery, and heavy labor, was in effect.

3. - Then came a major incident where road crews severed a gas line at the heart of construction, causing a traffic stand-still at this major artery. . It happened again , too.

4. - Thought not construction related, the roadway saw its share of accidents in 2011, as well .

5. - By autumn, business that operate along 347 told Patch construction had seriously taken a piece out of their business, with foot traffic slowed due to construction-related traffic. The Department of Transportation, however, .

6. - While there is still plenty of work on the road still to be done in the same place, signs of the promised Greenway showed up this autumn when road crews installed these new medians featuring a stone wall pattern.

Too keep up with Route 347 Construction stories in 2012, be sure to bookmarm our Big Topic page.