MASTIC – A project to enhance traffic flow, reduce gridlock and improve safety along a nearly two-mile stretch of Montauk Highway in Shirley and Mastic has begun.

Work will start with the relocation of utilities, in preparation for the project that will ultimately provide two lanes of traffic in each direction, with a center turning lane, from William Floyd to just east of the Southport Shopping Center; provide a continuous center turning lane throughout the 1.7 miles covered by the project; continuous sidewalks on both sides of the roadway, to enhance safety and to allow for pedestrian flow through the business districts of each community; reconfigure lights and lanes to prevent left-hand turns off Montauk Highway onto William Floyd Parkway.

The $22 million, 18-month project is eighty percent federally funded.