By MIKE CAPUTO
Planners of a proposed state improvement project on the Nassau Expressway (state route 878), between Burnside Avenue and Rockaway Turnpike, aim to expand the heavily used road to alleviate congestion and create safer conditions in the event of an emergency.
Martin Oliner, a trustee for the Village of Lawrence, has attended about a dozen meetings with state officials throughout a two-year planning process. To Oliner, the proposed Route 878 project should have significant, far-reaching effects for the Five Towns.
"It is a great opportunity to do more than just repave the road," Oliner said. "It would be a beginning of opening up Rockaway Turnpike, the emergency road that we need so desperately."
Nassau County's portion of the expressway merges with Rockaway Turnpike in North Lawrence. Rockaway Turnpike, which becomes Rockaway Boulevard, connects to Queens' portion of Nassau Expressway. That stretch of Route 878 ends at Kennedy Airport.
It is known as the main evacuation route for the Five Towns and Atlantic Beach.
Preliminary details of the road improvement project were revealed to residents at a public forum held at Lawrence High School on Tuesday. The forum, conducted by the New York State Department of Transportation, was set up as a "scoping" session to answer questions and obtain feedback from residents, said NYSDOT Spokeswoman Eileen Peters.
According to the NYSDOT, the project features, but is not limited to: the reconstruction of the existing interim roadway, upgraded intersections, additional turning lanes, traffic signal upgrades, improved pedestrian facilities and enhanced landscaping.
Construction, expected to be conducted during off-peak and night time hours, is currently scheduled to begin in 2011.
Read next week's Herald for a more in-depth look at the NYSDOT's plans for the Nassau Expressway.
Comments about this story? Mcaputo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 201.
