Elmont undergoes a face-lift
Construction on Hempstead Turnpike, Elmont Road
Nearly seven years ago, residents of Elmont formed the Coalition for Sustainable Development and discovered, through a blight study, that most locals considered Elmont’s portion of Hempstead Turnpike to be the community’s most neglected area.
The coalition developed a Community Vision Plan for Elmont, whose guidelines, accepted by the Town of Hempstead in 2008, included new concrete sidewalks, brick pavers, planted trees, decorative planters and trash receptacles along Hempstead Turnpike.
In May, the Town of Hempstead began construction on the road, between Elmont and School roads, in coordination with the Vision Plan, and town officials expect the project to be completed by mid-July.
Town Supervisor Kate Murray said that the construction is the third phase of a “triangle” streetscape project that the town has been working on for several years. In 2006, work was completed on a section of School Road, between Elmont Road and Hempstead Turnpike, and in 2008, the section of Elmont Road between School Road and Hempstead Turnpike was redeveloped.
“The community has been very, very patient,” Murray said. “We are spending huge amounts of energy in the Elmont community … we are really excited.”
She explained that the cost of the triangle project is a little over $700,000, and was funded by the town’s Community Development Block Grant, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The third phase of the project, whose cost is estimated at $325,000, is nearly 75 percent complete, Murray added.
The project, she said, was designed to be consistent with the streetscape project along Dutch Broadway, initiated by Nassau County Legislator John Ciotti in 2009 and completed two weeks ago. That project included new sidewalks, brick pavers, streetlights, trash receptacles, benches and plants on Elmont Road, from Linden Boulevard to Dutch Broadway; on Dutch Broadway itself, from Tuxedo Drive to Edwards Boulevard; and at Police Officer Matthew Giglio Plaza, at the corner of Dutch Broadway and Corona Avenue.
