Government

Road finally fixed near LIPA power line work in Greenport

Island View Road was repaired this week. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)
Island View Road was repaired this week. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)

A Greenport shorefront that was left a mess after work on a Long Island Power Authority cable to Shelter Island came to a halt last summer has been restored, with safe access to the beach now available for area residents just in time for Memorial Day.

 

Southold Highway Superintendent Vincent Orlando said the damage along Island View Lane, which lies just outside the village’s borders, had previously been covered with steel plating and yellow barricades.

“They did a great job,” Mr. Orlando siad. “[Public Service Electric and Gas Company] really rose to the occasion and put the road back as it was before [LIPA] came. Once I spoke to them, within two days they were down there.”

PSEG hired contractor Banker Construction of Geneseo to complete the repairs last week, he said. The work took about three days.

The initial $9 million project was designed to boost Shelter Island’s power supply, but work stopped in August after a piece of a drill rig broke off in the pipeline, becoming stuck 500 feet from Island View Lane’s shoreline.

To the dismay of area residents, the stalled project was left in limbo, as control over Long Island’s power supply was turned over to the PSEG in January.

“This place was a disaster and it used to be pristine,” said Celia Swing, who lives at the corner of Island View Lane and Bay Shore Road. “Now we have a brand new road.”

Since taking over the utility, PSEG officials have been working on a plan of action for supplying Shelter Island with more reliable power.

Jeffrey Weir, a PSEG spokesman, said the company is moving forward with a different plan that would see a power substation built on Shelter Island.

“We believe that this is the best solution and will enable us to provide that safe, reliable, consistent power that we want to provide, and ensure that the reliability is there,” he said.

PSEG representatives will be making a formal presentation of their project proposal to Shelter Island officials on May 27.

“Obviously if Shelter Island comes back and says this isn’t going to work, then we would have to continue to evaluate in terms of a cable,” he said. “It’s all still up for discussion.”

Contractors dug a hole in order to drill to Shelter Island. (Credit: Carrie Miller)
How the area looked last summer after contractors dug to run a cable to Shelter Island. (Credit: Carrie Miller,file )