SARAH CRICHTON, Newsday
February 14, 2013

Nassau and Suffolk, New York City and New York State will receive a total of $250 million in federal aid to repair roads and bridges damaged by superstorm Sandy. 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) will announce the reimbursements — the result of the Sandy federal aid package — at a news conference Friday in Manhattan.

Schumer said the expedited reimbursements will move construction forward quickly, prevent local taxpayers from being on the hook for interest payments and allow other construction projects to begin.

The funding is authorized through the Federal Highway Administration's Emergency Relief program. The pot of money will be distributed by the U.S. Department of Transportation to the state, which will then dole it out to local governments.

While the exact amount of reimbursement for each road is still to be negotiated, Sandy caused about $100 million in damage to roads on Long Island, according to an earlier state estimate. Affected roads include Ocean Parkway and the Robert Moses Causeway, which are currently undergoing an estimated $35 million in repairs. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has indicated he will seek reimbursement for those projects.

Repair work that qualifies in Nassau includes:
Meadowbrook State Parkway over False Channel;
the Long Island Expressway noise wall;
traffic signals and road signs countywide;
two bridges in Long Beach;

West Shore Road's seawall and culvert, which run through Oyster Bay, Bayville and Mill Neck on the North Shore.

In Suffolk, repairs that qualify include:
dune work along Asharoken Avenue, Dune Road and on Shelter Island;
traffic signals and signs countywide;
Orient State Park's entrance road;

Republic Airport garage doors and flood-control safeguards.

Federal funds to reimburse state and local governments for work repairing Long Island roadways damaged by superstorm Sandy will also include:
Nassau County
Branch Boulevard — washout at a failed culvert
Ocean Parkway — extensive damage to roadway and protective sand dunes, dune replenishment and culvert cleanout
End of Robert Moses Causeway — dune replenishment
Parkway lighting repairs