UPDATE: State Announces East Hampton Road Closures on Montauk Highway

With the resurfacing project on portions of Montauk Highway in East Hampton and Water Mill scheduled to begin on Wednesday, the State Department of Transportation announced that there will be only be a single travel lane open while workers perform repairs. Motorists will still be able to drive both east and west but with some delays, so the D.O.T. is asking drivers to use alternate routes when possible.

Opposing traffic will alternate using the same lane for short distances, said Eileen Peters, a spokeswoman for the D.O.T., in a press release Tuesday afternoon. The use of a single lane will begin to the east near Egypt Lane and Accabonac Road, near the East Hampton Post Office, and to the west on Station Road in Water Mill. Repairs will be made in multiple locations in Wainscott and East Hampton Village. Work will be performed between Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., throughout November.

"To minimize the impact to motorists, only smaller roadway sections where the contractor is actually performing work will be closed, and travel lane shifts, rather than closures will be utilized wherever safely possible," Peters wrote. A worker with a flag will stop one direction of traffic to allow the other to move past, and then alternate.

On Friday, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr., announced a resurfacing project to some of the most badly damaged portions of Montauk Highway. The repair project comes almost a year and a half before a complete resurfacing project was scheduled sometime in 2012.

The immediate project will replace "the top layer of the worn, distressed pavement" in sections of the highway with new asphalt pavement, Peter said. "When completed, these pavement repairs work help prolong the integrity of the roadway until a more comprehensive resurfacing project can be scheduled."

By phone Peters said the D.O.T. scheduled the project under an emergency contract, used for "jobs that cannot wait, two, three years before they are sent out to bid." It was done in response to "numerous requests we received from motrists, residents, and elected officials," she said. "This is really just to keep it in decent riding condition . . ."