City receives funding from state to improve pedestrian walkways

The City of Glen Cove has received $362,208 in the form of a state Department of Transportation grant for planned renovations throughout the city. The funds will help finance the design and construction of new curb ramps and crosswalks in the downtown business district.

The total cost of the project is $452,760. The city has committed to providing the additional $90,552 that is needed.

The budget includes the upgrading of 53 curb ramps to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the redesign of 27 crosswalks to be more visible. Some of the crosswalks are on Glen, Bridge and School streets.

The grant is a part of $112.2 million in transportation enhancement funding that Gov. Andrew Cuomo awarded to 81 projects across the state. The state Department of Transportation will provide up to 80 percent of each municipality’s project costs.

Glen Cove is one of the three municipalities on Long Island to receive the grant. The Town of Brookhaven received $2.1 million, and the Village of Amityville received $288,000.

Glen Cove Mayor Reggie Spinello said there would be an increase in the number of visitors once the downtown projects are completed. “We’re working on improving the downtown, with the movie theater coming in and the village square project beginning,” he said. “It’s another upgrade to our downtown.”

Ann Fangmann, director of the Glen Cove Community Development Agency, said that the city applied for the funding last fall, and that it would take some time for construction to begin. The city still has to complete the agreement to accept the funding from the DOT, hire designers and engineers and put the project out for bids before construction can begin.

All of the major crosswalks and sidewalk ramps downtown will be assessed to determine exactly what upgrades are needed. The height and/or slope of some ramps will be changed, and truncated domes — the raised bumps that serve as a detectable warning surface — will be added to make them ADA-compliant. The city has also been considering ways to make the crosswalks more durable, and plans to replace the fade-prone white paint with a material similar to slip-resistant stamped concrete.

Fangmann said she expects the project to be complete by December 2018, but that is subject to change depending on the length of each stage of the work.

“I think it’s a great thing,” said Francine Koehler, executive director of the Glen Cove Downtown Business Improvement District. “In the downtown district there are two assisted-living facilities and the Glen Cove senior center, so there’s a large senior population that utilizes the downtown, and improving pedestrian accessibility continues the focus of the city on downtown revitalization.”