Residents of Franklin Square and nearby towns are concerned about traffic safety near the Cherry Valley Ballfields in West Hempstead. Many neighborhood children ride their bikes along the busy road to the ball fields and the Garden City Community Park.
There are no crosswalks or sidewalks leading to the park, and residents said they do not want to wait until an accident happens to address the safety concern.
Diane Hansen, a West Hempstead resident whose son, Michael Hansen, often travels to the park with friends, said she has been trying to address traffic concerns on the dangerous road for over two years.
She originally brought the issue to Town Councilman Thomas Muscarella in 2023, who met her on Cherry Valley Avenue to see firsthand her safety concerns.
“My son used words like how ‘death-defying’ it is to ride your bike down there,” Hansen said.
Michael, a rising senior at H. Frank Carey High School, said the lack of sidewalks has posed safety threats to him and his friends over the years, who normally travel north on their bikes past the ball field toward the community park.
“My friend hit into a fire hydrant while he was riding a bike because it’s so tight over there,” Michael said, explaining that the stretch of road that does have a sidewalk is short and narrow.
Michael agreed with his mother and said he’d like to see the town install a sidewalk, crosswalk, new signage, or a traffic light.
Gineta Lotrean, a Franklin Square resident, said she drives down Cherry Valley and has been concerned about traffic safety for years. She always tells her two sons not to ride their bikes or play near the road because of it.
“I see how cars fly by,” Lotrean said, referring to cars travelling south from Rockaway Avenue. “It’s a pretty dangerous area. It’s like a speedway.”
In general, Lotrean said the area is not well maintained. There’s broken glass and dog droppings on the narrow strip of grass that lines the road, making for a hazardous experience trying to find walking space.
And, Hansen added, drivers don’t always abide by the existing crosswalk in front of the Stop and Shop on Cherry Valley. In early May, she witnessed a man crossing the street with his family, whom she said had the right of way, but a driver ignored the walking sign and almost hit him while making a turn.
Muscarella said he is aware of the issue during a May 28 Franklin Square Civic Association meeting, and he will be working with County Legislator John Giuffre to fix the problem. But the two officials said there are several levels of approval they must go through in order to implement a solution.
“I do take your concerns seriously,” Giuffre said, pointing out several traffic safety upgrades he helped implement in the area, such as a lighted crosswalk in front of Young Israel of West Hempstead in January 2023.
While Cherry Valley is located in the Town of Hempstead, the road leads into an area under the Village of Garden City’s jurisdiction. Sanitary District No. 6 is also located directly across from the ball fields, meaning the town would also have to take their needs into consideration, such as room for their large trucks.
“There’s a lot of moving parts,” Muscarella said, explaining that getting approval by the village could be a challenge.
Nonetheless, Muscarella assured residents that he and Giuffre were going to work together and coordinate efforts between the town and the county to control traffic on the busy road, whether it be crosswalks or stop signs.
The town is currently conducting a feasibility study on Cherry Valley, according to Casey Sammon, a public information assistant for the town office. The studies consider accident reports and congestion of the roadway, Sammon wrote in an email to the Herald.
However, Sammon wrote that the majority of the property where residents are requesting a sidewalk would have to be approved and maintained by the Village of Garden City.
Residents said the town should address the safety concerns before an accident happens. “Being proactive is always better for safety,” Lotrean said.
Hansen said she does not want residents to have to wait for the town to complete its feasibility study — which the town did not specify a timeline for — in order to address a problem residents experience on a daily basis. While she appreciates the efforts of Muscarella’s office and understands that the issue is complex, she expressed frustration at how long it’s taking to implement a solution.
“We don’t want to go back and say that we should have done this afterward,” Hansen said of the traffic safety upgrades. “We have to do these things beforehand.”
