New Eastbound Lane Closure Starts Monday on Route 347

Beginning Monday, eastbound drivers on Route 347 in the Smithtown and Hauppauge areas will find a new lane closure on Route 347 between Route 111 and the Route 347/454 split, the New York State Department of Transportation announced Friday.

The closure, which is expected to remain in place until early 2015, will reduce the three lanes to two beginning about half of a mile east of the Route 454/347 split at Brooksite Drive.

"It's just going to taper down sooner," Eileen Peters, a state DOT spokesperson, said Friday. "We are going to be monitoring the traffic conditions. ... We will make any adjustments if need be."

The lane closure is required as part of a $30.5 million project titled "Design-Build, NY Route 347 Safety, Mobility and Environmental Improvement Project." It's one of a series of projects on Route 347 encompassing 15 miles between Smithtown, Islip and Brookhaven, designed to "improve safety for motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians, and to reduce travel delays by transforming NY Route 347 into a modified boulevard and suburban greenway," according to the DOT.