Letters-to-the-Editor & Commentary

We need to coordinate road work with Con Ed

Published 3 years ago3y ago • Bookmarks: 19

August 22, 2021

In recent years Con Ed has been doing lots of underground gas pipe replacements around the region. The infrastructure work is needed and is important for our safety. What’s also needed is for Con Ed to provide the public and local government officials with a 5-10 year plan of roads that are going to be cut up.

Over the years I have noticed that some of the roads that Con Ed temporarily tears up were recently milled and paved by local governments–some within a year after they were repaved. In other cases, the roads were in great condition before Con Ed started to cut them up. An example: Ardsley Road (near the Ardsley middle school) which is currently undergoing work. A few months ago this portion of Ardsley Rd had no potholes, no cracks, no bumps. It had been repaved within the past 4 years and would not have required repaving for years. Today, the road is a mess. After Con Ed completes their work before winter season arrives, they will repave the road and it will look great again. But money will have been wasted because the road will have been repaved twice.

Milling and repaving roads is very expensive. It doesn’t make sense for local governments to repave a road only to have Con Ed break up the road a short time later –and then repave it. If there was a 5-10 year plan of roads utilities know they will work on, every local government in the state would be able to avoid repaving roads scheduled for work. I will be contacting the New York State Public Service Commission, Con Ed officials and state officials.

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