Expect Traffic Delays as $2.5M Reliability Project Begins

Motorists should expect periodic traffic delays and occasional detours beginning Monday (Aug. 17) as O&R starts work on a $2.5 million project designed to improve service resiliency and minimize storm-related service interruptions by burying the overhead electric lines that run along the Lake DeForest causeway between New City and Congers in Clarkstown.

O&R contractor crews will be performing the work generally between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Traffic control will be fully deployed for workplace safety as necessary. Motorists should exercise extra caution while driving through the work area.

This project calls for undergrounding existing overhead lines only. The utility poles, which are owned by Verizon, will remain as will the town-owned streetlights attached to them.

The project is part of O&R’s storm hardening program that includes the strategic undergrounding of critical and outage-prone overhead circuits throughout the O&R electric system, making it more reliable.

O&R Vice President – Operations Francis W. Peverly said, “Undergrounding overhead electric lines at critical locations has proven to be a valuable tool in reducing storm-related power outages. Used strategically, it provides high-value results for our customers and the communities we serve in terms of reducing storm damage and preserving electric reliability.”

O&R has secured all required public approvals and permits for this project.

Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies. O&R is a regulated utility that provides electric service to approximately 300,000 customers in southeastern New York State (where its franchise name is Orange & Rockland) and northern New Jersey (where it’s Rockland Electric Company), and natural gas service to approximately 130,000 customers in New York.