By Angela Marshall
Village officials say they have responded to the complaints in a number of ways. In addition to increased enforcement, new signs are being installed and the truck weight limit on the road has been reduced from 10,000 to 8,000 pounds. Trucks weighing more than 8,000 pounds can use the road only for local deliveries.
Residents made a second appearance before the village board of trustees at its Nov. 25 meeting to ask for continued help. "The noise on the street is just unbelievable," said Mary Cavanagh, a 25-year North Oceanside Road resident.
Cavanagh said residents understand that Oceanside Road is a main artery through the village and that they have to expect a lot of traffic, but that it has become too much. A few said they have followed trucks to see if they were making local deliveries, and they weren't.
At the meeting, Police Commissioner Jack McKeon said he recently became aware that the department could be more strict in its interpretation of "local delivery." State law requires that the delivery must be made on the road the vehicle is using, he said. Police check a driver's purchasing order to see if he is operating legally.
During his investigation, McKeon found that more than 11,000 vehicles of all types use North Oceanside Road each day.
The residents believe that many of the truckers use the road to bypass police weigh stations on Sunrise Highway and because they like to fuel up at the Hess station on the corner of Sunrise and Oceanside Road.
McKeon and the village building department sent a joint letter to the owners of the Hess station requesting that they close the North Oceanside Road entrance to the station. They had not received a response as of Monday, Dec. 2.
Tractor trailers aren't the only vehicles residents of the neighborhood are complaining about. School and Long Island buses regularly use the road, and residents say the vehicles are often left idling in front of their homes for long periods of time.
A spokesman for Long Island Bus, Frank Ryan, said that buses use the Hess Station because the bus company has a contract with it, but that drivers have already been told about not idling on North Oceanside Road. He said that if residents see a bus idling on the road they should note the bus number and the time and call in a complaint. Complaints can be made to (516) 228-4000.
McKeon said he can't stop buses from using the road, but residents said he could ticket them for speeding or idling in a no-parking or no-stopping zone.
Village Administrator Ronald Wasson asked the residents to give the new initiatives a chance to work. "[It's] going to take a little time for the word to get out," he said.
