Keeping Inwood clean

For the second consecutive year, members of the Inwood Civic Association and other volunteers will spend part of their Saturdays from now through Sept. 30 mowing the grass and picking up debris along the Nassau Expressway, between Bayview Avenue and Doughty Boulevard.
The state Department of Transportation last week granted the civic group a permit to do the work on the state road, Route 878. “When highway work is done, a permit is needed,” Beau Duffy, the DOT’s director of communications, explained. “The group needed to present a traffic control plan, and we have to make sure they’re safe. Safety is our No. 1 priority.”
Civic association member Pete Sobol, who organized last year’s cleanup, said that the Inwood sections of the expressway are once again an eyesore due to the state’s mowing schedule. “We started last year, when the civic received a number of complaints,” he said. “The state cuts the grass once a month when it gets to be eight inches or higher.”
Duffy confirmed that the state mows the grass only when it exceeds eight inches, but the purpose of the work is not beautification. “Our goal is protecting highway safety and maintaining proper drainage and sight lines,” he said. “DOT doesn’t cut the grass for aesthetic purposes.”
DOT’s policy is to maintain the grass height within 15 feet of guardrails, drainage ditches, roadways and interchanges. In 2008 the state revised its mowing schedule due to a reduction in manpower and money, Duffy added.

Hewlett resident Jim Vilardi helped to get the civic group in touch with State Sen. Dean Skelos, who in turn reached out to the DOT to help secure the permit to continue the volunteer effort. “From my perspective, it’s a really good team effort that makes the area look good, really clean, and we have a lot of fun,” said Vilardi, who serves as a commissioner of Sanitary District 1 and runs a home construction business. “It’s gratifying, and once the idea gained traction, the whole feeling is that the community is involved on a project that benefits the community. People passing in their cars and trucks sometimes stop and help.”
Asking the DOT to allow volunteers to mow and clean up benefits the entire community, Skelos said. “This partnership between local residents and the state will help enhance the quality of life of all our residents,” he said, “and I thank everyone involved in helping to make Inwood a better place to live.”
Lifelong resident Roy Meserole has helped to maintain and beautify the expressway since it was built 26 years ago, as a member of the DOT’s Adopt-A-Highway Program. “The fact that New York state has limited money, anything the volunteers can do to supplement [cleanup] is great,” Meserole said.
It isn’t easy to work as vehicles whiz by, he said, and volunteers have to remain aware of where they are. “You’ve got to be careful,” he said. “Even though you’re off the road, you’re in a dangerous situation.”
Hazardous or not, Sobol said, he wants to keep his community tidy. “We are building on what we started last year,” he said.
To volunteer, call Sobol at (516) 371-3882.

Have an opinion about roadway cleanup? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.