Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 502

THE For Long Island growth seemingly unending In the decades of the 50s and the stalled in the 70s The commercial and residential boom which bad kept pace with the construction of the Long Island Expressway started to run out of gas at Exit 64 (Route 112 In Brookhaven) at about the same time the UE was being completed That left Long Islanders wondering what had gone wrong They were given some possibilities with the surfacing of a scandal In one of the the nation's largest public works programs Suffolk's Southwest Sewer District with fears about the depletion of fresh water supplies and with the recognition of an identity crisis: Who we wondered are we? And where we asked are we headed? the End of the Road for the LIE -M1III UJI wjowflswn THE LONG ISLAND EXPRESSWAY the umbilical cord that became a clogged artery was completed officially at 10:13 AM June 29 1972 about 1 1 years and 13 minutes behind schedule and $80000000 over cost estimates Nevertheless Route 495's extension to Exit 73 in Riverhead marked the conclusion of one of the most ambitious undertakings in Long Island history It also signified an expectation that remains unfulfilled For in the it became apparent that growth and development had stalled in mid-Brookhaven roughly at Exit 64 (Route 112) To many the UE has been a metaphor for postwar Long Island: a victim of its own popularity y' By Larry Eichel Riverhead AT 10:13 yesterday morning 79 miles east of the Midtown Tunnel the last two miles of the Long Island Expressway were opened for traffic in the traditional way late The opening had been scheduled for 10 AM It had once been set for 1961 But it was delayed a few minutes yesterday by some white line-painting on the road and the veiling of several now-obsolete road signs west of the old ending like Traffic Exit 910 mile' And so it was not until 10:13 that workers you will eventually get black state-owned Chevelle was the seventh car to travel the new road good very he said when he returned Another man who stood and watched was Oscar Lorenz an equipment operator who will try to keep the new roadway clean they he noted as almost all the cars and trucks that used to get off at Exit 71 now headed east to the highway's new terminus probably go UP there two miles and get he Baid bet you half of them know where Many of the vacationers who will travel east on the expressway this holiday weekend probably will get lost The old directions to Montauk Point and the Hamptons on the South Fork to the end of the expressway and take a work any more They will get you to Orient Point on the North Fork instead or at least to John Texaco station strategically located just beyond the last exit ramp Lickum who opened his station just two weeks ago in anticipation of the expressway opening is ready for the onslaught give tremendous he said He will direct tourists down Old Country Road and then right on Roanoke Avenue which runs into the Riverhead traffic circle and Route 24 to the South Fork Unfortunately those directions take the tourist right through four traffic lights was no real problem said Sgt Donald Robinson of the Riverhead police wait till this weekend The weekend will Vacationers heading for the South Fork Bhould use Exit 71 which leads to 60-MPH Edwards Road For the record the first car on the new section that convertible was driven by Bruce Stasiuk a Coram schoolteacher Tom Bogacki went along for the ride The adventurers arrived just after 9 AM and waited on the shoulder just inside the barrier for the cones to be lifted know whether to expect crowds or Stasiuk said occasion is historical in several ways maybe change our names to Lewis and Clark ES from the State Transportation Department removed the yellow traffic cones and a dark green convertible became the first car to trav-jj el from Exit 71 to Exit 73 About 25 workers and reporters watched The engineer in charge Ed Donovan was philosophical about being late not really he said engineering such a thing as tolerance margin of In oth- er words 10 AM really means 13 minutes before or after 10 AM have a personal sense of he said is what I 1 became a civil engineer for 1 thought never see this Neither did Jacques Chenet an area super-j visor for the State Transportation Depart-ment who worked on the first part of the expressway 75 miles west and 17 years ago in Queens in 1955 He has been working on the highway ever since personally removing barricades to open several sections in central Suffolk these years this was our dream he said adding that he had learned a lesson in his work: you persist.