Village of Lynbrook working toward road improvement project

The Village of Lynbrook is in the early stages of a road improvement project that would cost roughly $3.5 million, with work to upgrade the streets and curbs tentatively scheduled for the spring of 2017.

“There are so many [roads] that aren’t up to Lynbrook standards,” Mayor Bill Hendrick said at the Nov. 7 village board meeting.

Road improvement has been a concern throughout Lynbrook and has served as one of the top priorities for the village over the last few years. Village Administrator John Giordano said roadwork is done every two years, and though complaints are down, he saidthe road project is a form of preventative planning.

“We’ve accelerated our road project over the past 10 years so,” Giordano told the Herald in a phone interview. “Right now I can’t say we have an overabundance of complaints about roads. This is for preventive maintenance before those complaints arrive.”

The project won’t impact Lynbrook taxpayers, said Giordano, because it will be funded through different means. $1.6 million will come from existing bond funds, $2 million will come from bonds the village sells to various institutions and $400,000 will come from state grant funds from the Department of Transportation. The board of trustees also may tap into its reserves for an extra $50,000.

Though work is done every two years, Giordano said there are 40 miles of roads throughout Lynbrook, so it’s impossible to get to them all during the current maintenance work. He said the village is reviewing a priority list right now to see which areas need the most improvement. After the list is completed, an engineer will evaluate them and create blueprints before the village board collects sealed bids from contractors to get the projects done.

During the village meeting, Hendrick and Giordano said interest rates are attractive right now, so the cost of the project would be cheaper to do in the coming months rather than waiting a few more years. Giordano added that the village debt is currently $26 million, but its yearly payments decline annually over the next 20 years.

With some of the bonds coming off the books, Hendrick said the village’s annual payment would go up by $50,000 in the first year of the road project, but decline every year thereafter.