Nightly Road Closures Mark Start of Route 347 Project

Smithtown drivers heading out late night or early morning should avoid Route 347 between Route 111/Wheeler Road and Mount Pleasant Road. 

New York State Department of Transportation will be closing two lanes of traffic, one in each direction along the 0.8 miles of roadway on Wednesday and Thursday nights, between 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. 

Eileen Peters, spokeswoman for the DOT, said the lane closures are necessary to begin preliminary work for Stage 1 work on second stretch of the Route 347 Greenway project. 

"We are preparing to pave the center median to shift the traffic over when we need to do work - similar to the first section of Route 347 - shifting traffic back and forth to minimize the number of closed lanes and its impact," Peters said. 

Motorist can see large orange traffic cones and electronic billboards have been spaced along the roadway to prepare for the upcoming roadwork and warn residents of the impending closures. 

Next week, Peters said one lane of Route 347 will be closed from Brooksite Drive eastbound to Mount Pleasant Road from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Crews are scheduled to begin surveying and utility work. 

The Route 347 Greenway project is aimed at improving the safety and mobility for motorists, while transforming Route 347 into "a modern boulevard and suburban greenway," according to the DOT's project website. 

A separate bike and shared-use pedestrian path, new facilities for transit riders and a host of environmentally sustainable amenities and benefits will be added to the existing roadway as it is widened from two lanes to three travel lanes in each direction. 

Construction on this phase of the Route 347 greenway project is not expected to be complete until 2015.