William Street plan hits road block

Concerns about the safety of pedestrians and motorists, along with traffic flow prompted the Lawrence village board to unanimously reserve decision on a proposed plan to widen William Street by three feet to create space for two-way traffic on a roadway that currently accommodates only one-way traffic.

At the May 12 village meeting, the board unveiled a plan to enlarge Williams Street from 18.3-feet wide to 21.3-feet. Currently, traffic may only enter off of Central Avenue to get to Mulry Lane.

The proposed plan would widen William Street, and permit traffic to head in both directions between Central Avenue and Mulry Lane. The preliminary plan includes prohibiting left turns onto Central Avenue.

However, several residents and a Central Avenue businesswoman, who collectively thought that the plan didn’t account for older pedestrians and drivers, who don’t pay attention to vehicular regulations, aggressively opposed it.

“This plan can’t work,” said Liane Feuer, a 30-year Lawrence business owner, whose Haber Travel Services office building has been struck by vehicles. “People are coming the wrong way and constantly making U-turns. They don’t obey the laws. This plan is ridiculous.”

In addition to the large amount of traffic on Central Avenue, William Street is flanked a huge apartment building (360 Central Ave.) on one side and a supermarket on the other.

“This is a risky, risky proposition,” Hope Nathan said about the proposed plan. Nathan’s husband Thomas was killed in a vehicular accident in the area four years ago. “You are doing a disservice to the elderly,” she added, referring to the added traffic should William Street become a two-way road.

Deputy Mayor Joel A. Mael said the village is trying to resolve what he called a “multiple fold problem,” that has been created due to the high volume of traffic on Central Avenue, the stacking of school buses on Mulry Lane by recently opened Mesivta Ateres Yaakov High School and the need for the Lawrence Cedarhurst Fire Department and other emergency responders to access neighborhood streets.

“We are sensitive to the concerns of all the residents,” said Mael, who said that if the “right turn only” signs didn’t keep motorists from making a left onto Central Avenue, then a small, curved median could be installed to ensure vehicles only go right.

But Rochelle Kevelson, president of the Lawrence Association, thinks the proposed plan could not be implemented unless more work was done in the immediate area.

“There is no way that the street can be made wider unless you condemn the building (a thrift store at the corner of Central Avenue and William Street) and take away the utility poles,” she said, noting that a structure and property at 360 Central Ave., may also have to be removed to widen the street. “The angle is not wide enough for a truck.”

The proposal and any possible changes will be considered at a future board meeting. The next meeting is Thursday, June 2 at 7 p.m. “If it was up to me I would leave well enough alone and not change it,” said Lawrence Mayor Martin Oliner.