Valley Stream Boulevard to be detoured

Village officials say that emergency repairs are needed for the culvert on Valley Stream Boulevard, and that they will move ahead with replacing it in the coming months. Once the $2 million construction project begins, the road will be closed for several months.

The culvert, which carries a stream underneath Valley Stream Boulevard to the Village Green, has been deteriorating for some time. However, officials say, the serious storm in mid-March damaged it to the point where repairs are needed. Engineers and highway officials who inspected it after the storm said that at some point it could become unsafe. “That’s enough for us,” Village Clerk Vinny Ang said. “We’re not going to take that chance. We’re not going to let anyone get hurt.”

Some changes have already been made. The sidewalks on both sides of the road have been closed because there was significant washout under the edges of the culvert. A pedestrian walkway, separated by concrete barriers, has been created on the north side of Valley Stream Boulevard, and traffic lanes have been narrowed to accommodate it.

There is now a four-ton weight limit on the street, and stop signs will soon be installed in both directions. Ang said that at this point, the road remains safe for cars. “The culvert didn’t collapse,” he said, “but we know its time is limited.”

Ang explained that surveyors and engineers have been out looking at the culvert and will soon complete a design for a new one. Once that is done, the village will use a request-for-proposals process to select a construction firm. Ang said that because the work will be considered emergency repairs, the village does not have to put it out to bid, which would delay the start of the project.

Construction is expected to begin by mid-August. Ang said that the road’s westbound lane will be closed between Hicks Street and Payan Avenue, and the eastbound lane from Ballard Avenue to Hicks. Ang said that when work begins, signs will be posted nearby letting drivers know about the road closing.

Valley Stream Boulevard is a major route from the east end of the village to Village Hall and the Henry Waldinger Library, and from the west end to Long Island Rail Road parking lots.

The road will be closed for about four months. “It would be hopefully reopened by early December,” Ang said. “People will have to just be patient while it’s being done.”

The project will be complicated, he said, by the necessity to relocate several utilities. A sewer line and telephone wires run through the road bed, and a water main runs underneath, through the stream.

Money matters

The village will borrow $2 million for the repair to cover construction costs as well as engineering and architectural fees. Deputy Treasurer Michael Fox said it would be added to the $1.9 million that will be borrowed for the village’s annual road repair program to resurface streets and parking lots.

Fox said that the extra borrowing would have little impact on future budgets, since it will be paid off over 15 or 20 years. Deputy Mayor Joanne Antun added that the village has an excellent bond rating, allowing Valley Stream to take advantage of low-interest rates on its borrowing. “Being fiscally conservative pays off,” Antun said, “because when you have to do an emergency repair like this, you can manage.”

However, the village is hoping to recoup all or some of the money from Nassau County. Last August it filed a lawsuit claiming that the county is the owner of the culvert because it was installed before Valley Stream became an incorporated village in 1925. The village also states the the county claims ownership of the waterways, such as this stream.

But the county says it is not responsible. Andrew Scott, a county attorney, conceded that the culvert was installed by Nassau County, but added that Valley Stream took responsibility for it when it became a village. Essentially, Scott said, the village is its own highway district and is responsible for the maintenance of its own roads, including Valley Stream Boulevard.

“It’s really the village’s headache, not ours,” Scott said, “and they have not demonstrated to me otherwise.”

He added that the culvert was installed not to support the stream, but to support the roadway, which is the village’s responsibility. He said the county’s position is backed by state highway law, which defines a culvert as part of a highway.

The county’s response to the lawsuit also claims that there is no proof that the county constructed the culvert, only the assumption that it did because it was there before the village existed.

Ang said that the village would also look into applying for a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.