Traffic remedies stalled

Five years after Nassau County commissioned a traffic study that was conducted by an independent engineering company — and nearly three years since the firm’s findings and recommendations were released — there has been no noticeable reduction in the congestion that plagues Hewlett and Woodmere residents, visitors and business owners in the Broadway-West Broadway area.
The recommendations included several options, one of which was to add left-turn lanes at certain intersections. Restriping West Broadway to create a second eastbound lane between Woodmere Boulevard and Franklin Avenue was also suggested, to help clear the eastbound rush-hour congestion on West Broadway. Another option was to make Broadway a one-way street northbound and West Broadway one-way in the opposite direction..
Benjamin Eilbott, the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library president and a 53-year Hewlett resident, said he believes the county has not implemented any of the traffic study’s recommendations because the congestion has not severely impacted lives or property. “There have been no deaths, no injuries and no collisions,” he said, “but how can [there be] when nothing’s moving?”
But Mike Martino, spokesman for the Nassau County Department of Public Works, said that in 2007, at the time of the study, community members were fully informed and involved, but afterward they didn’t accept any of the recommendations.
“The goal of the traffic study was to make recommendations to improve travel time on Broadway and West Broadway, between Woodmere Boulevard and the area known as the Hewlett triangle,” Martino said. “The county will continue to explore ways in which to improve traffic flow, while respecting the wishes of the surrounding community.”
Merchants in the communities’ business districts agree that traffic congestion is bad and hurts their business, but disagree on the best way to reduce it. Bobby Leshansky, owner of Max’s Appetizing & Kosher Delicatessen on Broadway in Woodmere, said that turning Broadway and West Broadway into one-way streets might ease congestion.