Updated: 6:57 p.m. A swath of Main Street in downtown Riverhead is without power this afternoon due to a failed transformer.
The outage occurred at approximately 11:45 a.m., according to a PSEG spokesperson. Estimated restoration time is 8 p.m.
An underground transformer blew just outside the Dark Horse Restaurant, according to a PSEG crew member on site. The transformer vault appeared to be flooded, he said.
Power is out on both sides of Main Street, from at least as far east as East Avenue and at least as far west as Griffing Avenue. The PSEG spokesperson could not provide exact parameters of the outage. About 115 customers are affected, she said.
Traffic signals are out, snarling traffic throughout the area. Police are directing traffic at several intersections, but vehicles are quickly backing up. There is gridlock in the area of Roanoke and Peconic avenues and Main Street. At 2:10 p.m., police were shutting down Peconic Avenue in an attempt to alleviate the traffic jam.
A Riverhead Central School District automated telephone call at 2:40 p.m. warned parents that school busses could be delayed by 15 to 20 minutes because of the traffic.
With temperatures approaching 80 degrees this afternoon and no air conditioning indoors, many downtown business owners could be found standing outside their shops, talking amongst themselves.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” said James Foster, sitting outside Sweet Tart Frozen Yogurt Cafe, which he and his wife opened this spring. “I don’t want to lose the yogurt in my machines.”
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