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This story has been updated from an earlier version.
TUCKAHOE, N.Y. Yesterday, the good news was that a single lane on Yonkers Avenue in Tuckahoe will be open for traffic for the next few months.
But late last night Mayor Steve Ecklond said engineers nixed that plan.
"In light of recent road damages throughout the region and subsequent engineering advice from the Army Corps of Engineers, it has been recommended that Yonkers Avenue remain closed to vehicular traffic until such time that lateral support is provided by the construction of the planned project," Ecklond said via email.
The $1 million project is still expected to take longer to complete than previously thought, and the cost to repair the crumbling retaining wall is expected to rise.
Ecklond said that village employees opened the road for the contractor, a portion of the project the village was obligated to perform, but when the contractor ran mandatory tests, he came back to the village and said longer, more expensive piping would be needed to finish the job.
Its important for everyone to know that at that point,we then went out and had another set of tests ran for a second opinion,Ecklond said. Now we are negotiating with the contractor.
Ecklond said it could take a month or more for the contractor and the village to come to an agreement on the changes in the scope of the work. Once that is settled the project can move towards completion.
A section of road on Yonkers Avenue that goes over a narrow portion of the Bronx River 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, Ecklond 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 Hurricane Irene
Although the project, slated to be complete by late fall, will be delayed by the changes, Ecklond he does not think the changes will push that time frame forward too much.
I think we can still get this done by late fall, but maybe just a few weeks later, he said.
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