By Jeff Lipton
Traffic and parking in the commercial districts on Broadway and on Central Avenue are getting worse and worse, said Nassau County Leg. Jeff Toback (D-Oceanside). He said he recently met with the county's Department of Public Works to go over strategy for improvements.
Toback said he has proposed a multi-level parking garage near the Hewlett train station, where there are commercial buildings and no residences, so a garage would not hamper the area's quality of life. We've got to figure out a way to get cars off the streets and to get traffic moving, he said.
If a multi-level garage were built, parking would be restricted on the narrow Broadway and left turn lanes would be installed, making traffic flow smoother, since cars traveling on Broadway making left turns usually produce traffic jams.
Joe Gelb, president of the Hewlett Business Association, offered his own solution for traffic woes at Franklin Avenue and Broadway in Hewlett, which he called the worst intersection for traffic jams. Gelb said a jug-handle traffic pattern, which has been used in New Jersey, should be employed, prohibiting cars traveling toward Lynbrook on Broadway from making a left turn onto Franklin. Instead, they would be required to make three successive right turns, using a parking lot in the area for one of the turns.
I think it's a disgrace, Gelb said. The intersections are abominable. These are concerns I've been talking about for days and for months.
He added that on Fridays it takes upwards of 20 minutes to travel along Broadway from the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library to Burger King. The lines of traffic have to move. We have to ease congestion, he said. It's not good for residents and it's not good for merchants.
The traffic congestion is felt in the Woodmere Business District as well, as cars try to maneuver in one narrow single lane in each direction, just as in Hewlett.
Traffic is terrible. It is the worst, said Sy Glass, president of the Woodmere Merchants Association.
Traffic improvements are already in store in Lawrence and Cedarhurst. At Spruce Street and Broadway, a traffic light is being planned along with a left turn lane and green arrow on the traffic light for traffic moving toward Lynbrook. In addition, at Broadway and Cedarhurst Avenue a left turn lane is planned.
For the left turn lane to be put in place at Spruce and Broadway, on-street parking must be reduced. In order for this to happen, the county needs the cooperation of the Village of Lawrence and Village of Cedarhurst. Cedarhurst is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the proposal to restrict parking on the north side of the street, which is Cedarhurst's side, at a board of trustees meeting on Monday, Oct. 7. A proposal to restrict parking on the south side of the street, the Lawrence side, already received approval.
Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise said parking has to be restricted for 174 feet beyond the traffic light on Broadway to allow for a turning lane. Parise said he believes the request for traffic improvements came from Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst, which is concerned about the safety of congregants using the dangerous intersection.
Toback said county funding is already in place at a cost of $75,000 for the traffic light. This will help ease up traffic on Broadway, which is the biggest problem.
Another major concern in the Five Towns is the number of traffic accidents, particularly on Peninsula Boulevard. In the period between 2000-2001, 49 accidents were reported at the intersection of Mill Road and Peninsula Boulevard in Hewlett, the most in the area covered by the Fourth Precinct. Branch Boulevard and Peninsula Boulevard in Cedarhurst was third in the number of accidents with 14. Much of the accidents are due to speeding and officials urged drivers to slow down.
People also have to be more courteous and use common sense, said Toback, who was recently involved in a traffic accident on Peninsula and Mill. During many traffic accidents, people don't pay attention.
Parise pointed out that a fatality recently occurred at Branch and Peninsula and the village is willing to listen to any proposals to make the intersection safer.
