Sound Shore

New Rochelle officials are bracing for what will likely be a years-long traffic nightmare as the state Thruway Authority replaces the bridge that carries North Avenue over Interstate 95.

While the major bridge-work won’t begin this year, the Thruway Authority is about to start an 18-month effort to relocate utility lines.

Beginning Feb. 23, parts of North Avenue will be closed. Burling Lane, from North Avenue to May Street, will be entirely closed to traffic, but open to pedestrians.

The worst of the closures, with entire lanes of North Avenue shut off to drivers, will begin in mid-April.

The city has posted details of the work and planned closures on its website. Officials plan to reach out to residents and commuters via email, text messages and by posting signage throughout the city.

Much more on all this to come in the coming days and weeks.

If you can, avoid the southern half of the Hutchinson River Parkway this Saturday. The state Department of Transportation is planning to conduct what it describes as “maintenance activities” on the road from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Portions of lanes in both directions between exits 6 and 7 will be closed over the course of the day. The DOT reminds drivers that fines for speeding in a work zone are doubled.

Exit 6 links the Hutch to Interstate 95. Exit 7 connects to US Route 1/Boston Post Road.

Back in July we told you about the nightmare-level construction set to hit the heart of New Rochelle: the replacement of the North Avenue bridge over Interstate 95. While the timing of the main portion of the work was not yet certain, preliminary work was expected to begin at the end of this year.

Well, breathe easy; even the prep-work has been pushed back. City Manager Charles Strome III said earlier this week that the relocation of utility lines to a secondary pedestrian bridge would be put off till spring. Some time after that, work on the bridge will begin, though Strome said that could be at the end of 2012 or later.

When it does happen, “That’ll be a disaster,” Strome said. “Long periods of time where North Avenue will be shut down near the train station.”

But again, nothing to worry about now.

The Central Avenue bridge in New Rochelle is once again open to traffic. The bridge had been closed for repairs. The north sidewalk is open to pedestrians, but the south sidewalk will remain closed until further notice while work crews paint the bridge. City officials expect the work to be completed in several weeks.

For those of you who, a la a character in a Springsteen song, enjoy late-night drives on winding roads, you’re going to want to avoid the Hutchinson River Parkway over the next few weeks.

From Tuesday, Aug. 23 through Thursday, Sept. 15, all southbound lanes of the parkway between Exit 15 (that’s the Cross County Parkway split) and Exit 7 (for US 1/Boston Post Road) will be closed from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., Sunday through Thursday. The New York State Department of Transportation will post detours during the closure and is reminding drivers that fines for speeding in work zones are doubled.

Why the closure? The DOT is re-paving. It’ll be a frustrating few weeks (this scribe depends on the Hutch for his return home from the Sunday-night late shift), but the promise of smooth sailing thereafter makes a worthy carrot.

New Rochelle residents are facing a headache as they cope with the closure of the bridge carrying Centre Avenue over I-95.

Work on the bridge, which is in need of repair, began last week and is expected to last about a month. Construction crews had hoped to keep one lane of traffic open, but a minor collision that did not result in any injuries prompted officials to close the bridge completely.

Drivers seeking access to Grove and Centre avenues are asked to use Webster Avenue or the Division Street Memorial Avenue bridges instead.

That headache, however, pales in comparison to the migraine looming in the not-too-distant future.