A major PSEG project to repair a damaged electrical trunk line under Roslyn Road residents between Westbury Avenue and Plymouth Avenue is expected to intermittently interrupt water service to the area when work commences this week, village officials said last week.
The repair work, likely to take place three days this week, will also require closure of Roslyn Road.At June 1’s village board meeting, Thomas Rini, village superintendent of public works, said PSEG had discovered a “fault” in a major transmission line near the intersection of Roslyn Road and Colonial Avenue.
He said the repair work would mean moving portions of village water mains that also run under the roadway.
“Realistically both water mains have to be touched,” Rini said.
He said the PSEG engineers would have to create a loop with a t-section of pipe to reroute the water mains around the power line and other underground lines so the water doesn’t stagnate. He said the area beneath the roadbed was “loaded with services,” including Verizon lines and other conduits.
Rini said he expects the work to reroute the water mains to take place this week, most likely between Tuesday, June 7 and Thursday, June 9, with no water turn-offs planned for early morning hours or other peak usage times. He said PSEG’s contractor will not be permitted to work on the weekend.
“Quite honestly, I’ve been battling PSEG and their contractors for the past several hours,” Rini said, adding that PSEG wanted to start the work that same day.
Rini said the work would not proceed until PSEG presents its plans for the repair for village engineers to review. But he said he also didn’t want to hold up the work.
“This is a major piece of work. This is a major transmission line that receives power from upstate,” Rini said.
Strauss said PSEG notified the village about the project last week. He indicated he’s intent to minimize the inconvenience the work to restore the line, which supplies power to Connecticut.
“You can’t shut off water for days on end,” Strauss said.
He said PSEG would pay the cost of rerouting the village water lines.
PSEG spokesperson Elizabeth Flagler said preliminary work had begun on the project. PSEG anticipates road closures north bound on Roslyn Road at the intersection of Colonial and Searing Avenue, according to a recent press release that stated Colonial and Searing Avenues will be closed to Roslyn Road.
“Now that they located the fault they’re going to start working on repairing it,” she said.
Strauss said the repair work would continue on the PSEG line through July, While water services will not be affected after this week, road closures may continue.
