By:Jeff Lipton
Some storekeepers, such as Leon Boritz, owner of Tios Fine Jewelry, at 1307 Broadway in Hewlett, said his business has tailed off considerably since the changes were made more than six months ago. "I'm smack in the middle of it, and I can tell you that business is affected," said Boritz. "I'm seeing a decrease.
"It's difficult to get out of the parking lot over here and onto the street," he added.
Apparently responding to concerns about the safety of pedestrians and motorists, county traffic engineers installed crosswalks, changed the sequence of lights and added two left-turn lanes around Broadway and Piermont Avenue. Each turn lane replaced a through-traffic lane, and it appears that the lights are not coordinated now.
As a result, residents and merchants complain that drivers are forced to wait in traffic for five or 10 minutes, clogging local streets and causing severe traffic jams. Residents said the traffic has forced them to be late for their jobs, and storekeepers said that shoppers are going outside the neighborhood, refusing to wait in the heavy traffic.
The trip from Trinity Place, in Woodmere, to Everit Avenue, in Hewlett, is excruciatingly time-consuming, locals say.
Carlene Toron said it takes her almost a half-hour to get from her home in Atlantic Beach to work at Minuteman Press, at 1315 Broadway in Hewlett. The drive used to take her 12 minutes, she said. "Oh, it's terrible," she commented. "It's very bad. It used to be very easy to get here."
Fed up with the persistent delays, Village of Hewlett Harbor Trustee Mark Weiss has collected petitions bearing the names of more than 400 residents and shopkeepers who want to see the county correct the traffic problems. Weiss said he will hand the petitions to County Executive Thomas Suozzi in the hope that Suozzi will move to fix the problem.
Meanwhile, Joe Gelb, president of the Hewlett Business Association, said that Legislator Jeff Toback (D-Oceanside) had arranged for a meeting in Gelb's law office on Wednesday, Nov. 3. The county's director of traffic engineering and the commissioner of the Department of Public Works were invited to the meeting, along with representatives of the business association, the Hewlett Fire Department and officials from the incorporated villages of Hewlett Harbor, Hewlett Bay Park and Hewlett Neck.
"It's crazy," said Gelb. "You can't move in this traffic, and as a result, people don't come here to shop. It's insane."
In a letter to Public Works Commissioner Ray Ribiero, Gelb wrote, "The changes create gridlock and road rage on Broadway, causing traffic to back up to Johnson Place. Believe it or not, it takes about 20 minutes to travel the one mile."
The gridlock, Gelb wrote, is worse on Fridays from about 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., but is a nagging problem every day. He added that it's challenging for drivers every school day from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., when school buses are discharging their passengers and returning to the bus yard on Railroad Avenue.
"All of these challenges are nothing when one steps back and realizes that the safety of the community is compromised when the gridlock delays the Hewlett Fire Department volunteers from getting to the firehouse on Franklin Avenue and the challenge to get emergency vehicles off the floor," Gelb wrote.
He suggested a nine-point plan, which the county could implement to improve traffic-choked roads, including eliminating left turns northbound on Franklin Avenue and requiring cars turning north on Franklin to proceed to the parking lot entrance. They could then turn right at the end of the entrance and proceed to Franklin, where they could turn right and continue north on Franklin. Another suggestion is to have all traffic leaving Hewlett Bay Park exit through Everit Avenue.
Gelb wrote, "If the merchants can't generate sufficient business, they can't pay the rent, the stores will become vacant and property values will decline."
He went on: "I have spoken to local officials and no one seems to be even nominally interested in addressing the problem."
Repeated phone calls to Ribiero and other county officials, seeking comment, were not returned.
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