Yonkers Avenue in Tuckahoe to Remain Closed

TUCKAHOE, N.Y. -- Additonal lengths of pipe needed to complete work on Yonkers Avenue are on the way from Missouri, but it will still be at least six months before the road opens to traffic.

Engineer Karen Ashton, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, gave the Tuckahoe Village Board an update on the project that began last spring.

The project stalled in September after village employees opened the road for the contractor, a portion of the project the village was obligated to perform, so the the contractor could run mandatory tests. Upon completion of the tests, the contractor informed the village that longer, more expensive piping would be needed to finish the job.

Ashton negotiated with the contractor and an agreement was finally reached a few weeks ago. The material, which must be built from scratch, is expected to arrive in Tuckahoe within the next four to six weeks.

The $1 million project replaces a section of road on Yonkers Avenue that goes over a narrow portion of the Bronx River and is currently supported by a retaining wall estimated to be 100 years old. The project will replace roughly 200 feet of that retaining wall.

"Basically, we had fears that the road was going to collapse into the river," Tuckahoe Mayor Steve Ecklond has said.

Ecklond said the village applied for a federal grant for the repairs about three years ago. The federal government put up slightly more than $1 million. Part of the deal included the village putting up $75,000 in cash, and $50,000 in services.

The village tore the asphalt off the road and will repave after the work has been completed.

"Construction of the new wall will allow water from heavy rains to go around the bend in the river, greatly reducing the flooding we have always experienced in that area," Ecklond said.

Portions of the roadway were under three feet of water after Tropical Storm Irene. Although the project is slated to be completed by late fall, Ashton said a more realistic time frame will be April or May.

Initially, village officials tried to open the road to traffic, but Ashton nixed that idea, stating the road is too damaged to sustain traffic.

Click here to follow Daily Voice Bronxville and receive free news updates.