North Salem culvert replacements will mean travel trouble for motorists

Simultaneous culvert replacement projects on state roads in North Salem will complicate travel in the region beginning Monday.

The repairs on Routes 22 and 121 in North Salem come as lane closures already are in effect on Interstate 684. 

The New York State Department of Transportation has announced work to replace a culvert near Valeria Circle in North Salem will close Route 22 for about four weeks.

“This will cause major issues on North Salem, Ridgefield, Lewisboro and Somers roads,” North Salem Supervisor Warren Lucas told residents in an email.

Also closing Monday is a stretch of Route 121 south of Bloomer Road, near the NYSEG Peach Lake substation.

“The good thing is that the work on Route 22 will be finished in four weeks. We can live through that,” Lucas wrote.

But, he said, the Route 121 culvert replacement will take much longer.

“We were originally told it would take three months,” he wrote. “The DOT is going to get back to us with a new completion time and I am hoping it will be far shorter.”

The DOT already is doing work on what would be a sensible alternate route for many drivers, I-684. It is reduced to two lanes between Exit 6, Route 35, in Bedford and Exit 7, Route 116, in North Salem, weekdays between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. That is expected to last through the end of November.

And anyone who had been using secondary roads to avoid the I-684 work will have a tougher time with the culvert closures.

Lewisboro Supervisor Tony Gonçalves also has been passing on construction information to residents, who already complain about traffic backups, especially along Route 138, during rush hours.

“Together with the lane closures on I-684, we will see increased traffic through town, including Route 138 in Goldens Bridge and potentially Route 35,” he wrote. “I have requested that NYSDOT look at measures which can possibly provide better traffic control and will seek updates on this.”