A road resurfacing project is now under way in the Village of Westbury, and will be ongoing for several weeks, village officials have announced.

"Hot in Place Recycling," a modern, environmentally sound and cost-effective method of resurfacing roadways, is being used to recondition the village's roads, according to the officials.

Phase one, the creation of a new, stronger foundation, has been completed in many locations. Phase two, a smooth asphalt overlay, will soon begin. The project will continue for the next several weeks.

"What is most exciting about this project is that the village has employed an environmentally efficient and cost-effective method that recycles an existing pavement to create a stronger and longer lasting foundation for the application of a new finished asphalt overlay," stated a village spokesperson. "With this method, called 'hot in place recycling," a smaller quantity of asphalt is needed to create the smooth finished surface.

The process involves several steps. The first truck is a "pre-heater." It is operated by remote and is used to heat up (more than 1,500 degrees) and soften existing pavement. A "re-heater" follows the pre-heater. That re-heater prepares the pavement for the third phase, which is to scarify, auger and recycle. Then, the recycler feeds the recycled pavement to the paver, which lays down the new foundation. Once that phase is complete, a new thin wearing course of asphalt is poured in to overlay the improved pavement foundation. This final stage is yet to come on many streets that have already had their new foundations created through recycling.

"This process will prove to be very advantageous to village residents. Not only will many of our roadways be improved, but this environmentally sound and efficient method will cost substantially less," the village spokesperson added. "We ask for your patience as this project continues and are certain that you will be pleased with the results."