Parked 18-wheelers clog Rt. 878

Trucks parked along the shoulder on both sides of the Nassau Expressway, also known as State Route 878, are creating hazardous road conditions for motorists, reducing visibility and exacerbating traffic congestion — besides being a neighborhood eyesore — according to Five Towns residents and business owners.

“Every day we pass several eighteen-wheelers parked on the shoulder of NY878,” Michael Fragin, a Lawrence village trustee who also serves as deputy mayor, stated in a news release from State Sen. Todd Kaminsky. “These shoulders should be for emergencies, not for commercial parking.”

Kaminsky said he has asked the state Department of Transportation to have No Parking signs posted along the expressway. There are such signs along Bay Boulevard, near 878, that were installed by the Town of Hempstead nearly a year ago, but none on the Nassau Expressway.

“It’s dangerous, especially in an area notorious for traffic and congestion,” Kaminsky said. “Frankly, the road is not as well lit as we would like. It’s very congested, and it’s about to be [repaired]. Time to dig into this and tell [truck drivers] 878 is not for parking.”

The affected section of the expressway runs past Bay Harbor Mall and is not far from Inwood’s industrial park, whose proximity may contribute to the parade of tractor-trailers. Kaminsky’s office has been told that the drivers park along 878 to catch up on sleep.

Major renovations on the expressway, costing roughly $130 million, are scheduled to begin this spring. The roadway branches off from Rockaway Turnpike and links the unincorporated area of Lawrence to the Atlantic Beach Bridge and the barrier island that includes the Village of Atlantic Beach, Atlantic Beach Estates and Long Beach. With construction set to begin soon, accompanied by expected lane closures, local officials’ attention is turning to preventing tractor-trailers from parking along the shoulders.

Kaminsky said that his office has received complaints about the trucks for the past couple of months. Keith Graham, who co-owns the Garden Gallery, a nursery at the intersection of 878 and Bay Boulevard in Inwood, with his twin brother, Kenneth, said that they have been dealing with the trucks for a year.

“The trucks come in and out. They have no regard for the traffic,” Keith said. “A truck was stuck in the snow [last week], so there was one truck trying to pull the other truck out, blocking all the traffic.” Graham said that the trucks often sit there all day, and after the No Parking signs went up on Bay Boulevard, some even tried to park in front of his business before moving farther down the road.

Trucks previously parked in the Costco lot on Rockaway Turnpike. The store’s assistant manager, Hector Woods, confirmed that Costco told truckers that they could no longer use the lot.

Department of Transportation officials said they believe the overhaul of the expressway will help solve the problem. “Parking will not be permitted in the work zone during the improvement project,” said Stephen Canzoneri, a DOT spokesman. “The reconstructed Nassau Expressway will eliminate these areas in question by providing a reduced paved shoulder and curb.”

The project includes the addition of a multi-use pedestrian path, a state-of-the-art drainage system, traffic signals synced to ensure smoother vehicle movement, improved and additional turning lanes, and a possible retaining wall.

Saying that he was “thrilled” that the reconstruction would get under way in late May or early June, Kaminsky, who pushed the state to move up the date of the work, which was originally planned for 2025, added that he was hopeful that the work matches the plans. The DOT “promised two lanes open each way,” he said. “I hope they stick to that, but it’s still tight, and we need to make sure extraneous vehicles are out of the way.”

No truck drivers were in the cabs of the vehicles when a Herald reporter surveyed the area.

Have an opinion trucks on the Nassau Expressway or the 878 construction project? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.