Kaminsky Prepares for 878 overhaul

A year and a half after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans to renovate a section of State Route 878 measuring less than a mile, the state Department of Transportation has begun restriping the roadway, also known as the Nassau Expressway, and Rockaway Turnpike in preparation for detouring traffic around the upcoming $130 million construction project.

According to state officials, 40,000 vehicles per day use Route 878, which stretches from Ozone Park, Queens, to the Atlantic Beach Bridge, in Lawrence. The goal of the project is to alleviate heavy traffic through the area, and the improvements will include elevating the road and building a state-of-the-art drainage system to reduce flooding, the construction of a multi-use pedestrian path, the installation of synchronized traffic signals and improved turning lanes.

DOT officials said they plan to keep two lanes of traffic moving in each direction on the roadway, and three lanes in each direction on Rockaway Turnpike, though occasional nighttime lane closures will be needed. To do this, they ex-plained, travel lanes will be shifted onto the state highway’s right-of-way, which includes a portion of the parking lot of Five Towns Mini Golf and Batting Range, at 570 Rockaway Turnpike. As a result, one lane of the turnpike will be rerouted through the lot.

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