The strip of Great Neck Road that runs between Middle Neck Road and Cuttermill Road (which many people confuse as Bayview Avenue, but which is technically an extension of Cuttermill Road) is a Nassau County road. Built in the 1920s, it has not been improved since and is considered by the State Department of Transportation to be in such bad repair that they awarded a grant of $540,000 to the Village of Great Neck Plaza, with the county's blessings, to study, design, bid out and reconstruct the roadway. The village would match the grant with $54,000, a 90/10 matching program. This half-mile stretch of road is considered unsafe because over time the paving has worn down in places to the embedded stone causing the street to be unduly slippery in rainy conditions. In addition, there are cracks in the pavement that have widened.

The village hired the engineering firm of L.K. McLean Associates of Brookhaven and at a public hearing on April 21, principal Raymond DiBiase presented their findings and proposed three alternative plans for redesigning the road to reach the goals of making vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the area safer and enhancing the aesthetics of the street. Broadly, alternatives #1 and #2 propose reducing the number of lanes in each direction from two to one lane traffic. The third alternative would leave two lanes in each direction, but would remove all on-street parking spaces, some 48 slots.

The turnout for the hearing was rather small considering the magnitude of the proposed changes, but there will be more opportunities for the public to be heard on the matter. Since part of Great Neck Road runs through the Town of North Hempstead, a town sponsored public hearing on the topic will be held at the Lakeville Elementary School, on Thursday, May 13, 7:30 p.m. The village may schedule other meetings as well.

Mayor Jean Celender did indicate, however, that ideally, the village would like to make a final decision in time to get bids and begin construction in the fall before the asphalt plants close for the winter.

More specifically, all three plans have common features. All plans would expand the width of the medians from 4' to at least 14' and would contain low-growing plants in the centermost portion leaving a "mounted curb" which theoretically would allow for emergency vehicles to pass. There would be closures of mid-block openings that currently exist that would force drivers leaving the office buildings to turn right only. Village planner and engineer Walter Handleman says, "Drivers now turn helter-skelter."

All three plans would provide left turn lanes at the remaining openings in the median, would have new pavement markings, and would have improved traffic signals with "countdown" numbers flashing indicating for pedestrians how many seconds they have to cross the street before the light changes. All three plans would have colored crosswalks with overhead signs that light up to indicate to drivers that pedestrians are crossing.

Plans #1 and #2 that propose one-lane traffic in each direction would add an additional lane closer to the intersections of Middle Neck Road and Cuttermill Road to allow for a left turn lane.

The only difference in plan #1 and plan #2 is that #1 would allow for U-turns while plan 2 would not.

All three plans would utilize a paving process referred to as "thin asphalt" or NovaChip, its patented name. Using a specialized spreader, NovaChip paving places an ultra-thin coarse aggregate hot mix over a special asphalt membrane. According to a Nassau County public works representative at the meeting, Daniel Davis, this process provides a durable surface lasting about 15 years. Mr. Davis said that NovaChip has been used successfully on the Jersey Turnpike. The thin resurfacing process is much less expensive for road restoration because curbs, drains, manhole covers, etc. do not have to be refitted to accommodate thicker asphalt applications that are usually about 2.5 inches.

After the presentation, members of the public had an opportunity to speak. Mayor Steve Kirschner of the Village of Russell Gardens expressed his concerns that if Great Neck Road were reduced to one-lane traffic in both directions, drivers would begin to start taking shortcuts through his village. He suggested that L.K. McLean Associates block off one lane in each direction during rush hour to determine if the traffic still flowed adequately. Mr. DiBiase stated that through computer imaging programs, they had determined that traffic flow conditions would not deteriorate under plans 1 and 2. Mayor Kirschner was skeptical of the validity of computer modeling programs. Mr. DiBiase did not have the exact number count for rush hour trips at the meeting, but afterwards confirmed that counts were taken on Oct. 27, 2003. He said, "In the peak time period, evening rush, the average 2-way traffic volume is about 950 vehicles per hour."

Joan Adickman stated that she is persuaded that the roadwork needs to be done to improve the pavement, but that she was not persuaded that the plans to change the road to one-lane traffic would be "calming." "In fact," she said, "I think this would increase the level of frustration with some angry motorists traveling slower during rush hour."

Village of Russell Gardens trustee Dr. Marty Adickman urged the Plaza to take a more global approach to determine overall traffic patterns instead of focusing on narrow stretches of roadway. Stu Hockman stated that all three plans needed more work.

One resident who lives nearby said, "One-lane traffic would be a disaster." He argued that with the additional apartment buildings going up on Great Neck Road there would be even more cars on the street. He also referred to the problems of drivers turning onto Great Neck Road as they travel from the south on Middle Neck Road. Visibility is a problem because drivers coming from the north are not seen by drivers attempting to turn left until southbound drivers have topped the LIRR overpass. In addition, there is a tendency for double parking in that first block on Great Neck Road across the street from the Gardens of Great Neck shopping center. This resident felt that one-lane traffic would cause serious and perhaps dangerous back-ups at that intersection and felt the village should address that issue.

Mayor Celender noted that the village has tried vigorously to get Nassau County to consider placing a left turn signal on that traffic light, but with no success so far.

Jay Confino, who is chair of the Plaza's traffic safety committee, did not speak in his official capacity, but he favored plans 1 and 2. He stated that many people drive to Cuttermill Park and if parking spaces were removed, it would have a negative impact on park usage. Daniel Davis representing Nassau County public works stated that his department has studied the roadway from an engineering perspective and think that plan 1 would be good from a safety standpoint.

Betty Lou Feaster who is a commissioner on the board of the Belgrave Sewer District commented that several times a year, the district must have access to service the sewer lines and wondered if they and other utility providers would have difficulty in making repairs or performing maintenance work with a single lane road.

More questions were raised about how emergency vehicles would manage with reduced lanes. The engineering consultants indicated that Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department had signed off on plans 1 and 2. However, in an email following the meeting, Al Dawson of L.K. McLean Associates clarified that point. Mr. Dawson spoke with Mike Uttaro who is the 3rd Deputy Chief of the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department, Company 4 Firehouse and who also works in the Fire Marshall's office.

According to Mr. Dawson's notes, Mr. Uttaro informed him of general guidelines that the Fire Marshall's office recommends: "Generally the Fire Marshall likes to see 20' curb-to-curb for truck access. In terms of the median, no jersey wall or other barriers could be used. The only landscaping that could be utilized would have to be small plantings or shrubs. The median would need to be constructed of mountable curb, so that in an emergency, the median can be easily traversed. He (Mr. Uttaro) also suggested the use of "blue reflective hydrant markers" on both sides of the road to facilitate the location of hydrants within the project limits. He did not feel that this construction would detrimentally affect response times based on the conceptual design as described." However, this was informal input and not an official sign-off by the fire department.

Great Neck Road is 58' wide from curb to curb; parking spots are 7' wide; if parking spots remain there would be 2' wide striped "safety zones" next to the parking spots; 12' wide lane(s); 1' wide shoulder and a minimum of 14' wide medians.

Mayor Celender said that this is just the beginning of the public input process and that the engineers should "tweak" the plans based on some issues raised at the meeting. She also said, "We're not going to make these decisions by the seat of our pants, but by using the knowledge of the experts." The village expects to have the three plans available on their website at www.greatneckplaza.net.

The next opportunity to learn more about the proposals and to be heard on the matter will be on Thursday, May 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Lakeville Elementary School, 47-27 Jayson Avenue.