Legislative members announced that they plan to hear from New York State Department of Transportation officials on the status of the recently-stalled Long Island Expressway HOV lane construction project. The legislature has scheduled a full legislative hearing on the matter for April 4 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at One West Street in Mineola.

"The entire project has been a billion-dollar money pit," said Legislator Altmann, (D-Great Neck), who has been troubled by the cost and time overruns of the project since its beginning. "We want to make sure that we find out how state officials spent that money and what they got for it in return, because right now the project's only success has been to torment commuters and residents."

The final 12-mile stretch of the LIE's HOV-lane construction was halted recently when Modern Continental, the contractor, defaulted on the $220 million-plus project. J.D. Posillico of Farmingdale has been selected to finish the HOV-lane work, which is slated for completion by July 4. The LIE construction was supposed to be finished by the end of last year and completion was again promised for this spring, but both deadlines were missed.

"Perhaps we should bring in the crew from Extreme Makeover," Judy Jacobs Jacobs (D-Woodbury), suggested.

Legislator Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington), whose district has been impacted by the lengthy construction, calls the situation "deplorable." "It's symptomatic of state government," he said. "Our residents have waited patiently and once again our patience is being taken advantage by state agencies that are dysfunctional and not in tune with our resident's needs."

Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman said, "The state needs to take responsibility for getting this project back on track. The DOT must provide this and every other community with the level of professionalism and commitment that residents and commuters have a right to expect."

Nassau County Legislator Dave Denenberg (D-Merrick), chairman of the legislature's Planning, Development and Environment Committee, said legislators hope to hear testimony from state DOT.

"We are investigating an issue that has had a negative impact on traffic and the environment in Nassau County for far too long," said Denenberg. "One could have designed and built the Taj Mahal in a fraction of the time."

"For the past few months, we have all been wondering why no work is being completed on the LIE within the borders of Lake Success," said Lake Success Mayor Robert Bernstein, president of the Great Neck Village Officials Association. "After reading the Newsday article of March 23, the reason is apparent; the present HOV contractor has defaulted on the project. We look forward to giving our input to the NYSDOT and working with them under the rules and regulations of our village code to complete the work that was agreed upon under the original Memorandum of Understanding between the villages that border the LIE."