Re-pavement set for Scherer Boulevard

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The Franklin Square Civic Association has spent more than a year requesting that the Town of Hempstead repave Scherer Boulevard, which has long suffered from “incomplete patch work” as cars kick up gravel and bounce around on previously filled potholes.

Although town officials said Scherer Boulevard could not be included in last year’s road re-pavement budget, Town of Hempstead Councilman Bruce Blakeman wrote to the FSCA that Scherer Boulevard would be repaved this time around.

“I have directed the Engineering Department to evaluate this roadway and am happy to inform you that Scherer Boulevard will be repaved either later this year, or in early 2020,” Blakeman wrote.

Town of Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen said that the town was stepping up its efforts to repave roads in need of serious work as they deal with the aging infrastructure. She explained that it can cost millions to repave a single mile of roadway, and while the town had about $17 million in last year’s budget to repave the roads, it has $30 million this year.

“The town used to set aside less than $5 million to repave our roadways, but we’ve all lost tires because of these potholes,” Gillen said. “I’ve lost tires, too. So we need to invest in these re-pavement efforts.”

The news came as a welcomed relieved to local residents who had long complained about the state of that road, which connects Hempstead Turnpike with Franklin Avenue. FSCA President John Randazzo congratulated his team on pushing the town to get this done, and welcomed the repaving of both Scherer Boulevard and Franklin Avenue, which saw predatory work being done in January by the Nassau County Department of Public Works for the re-pavement this spring.