Village of Flower Hill Administrator Ronnie Shatzkamer announced Monday that state Department of Transportation has secured funding for a scoping study of traffic at the intersection of Port Washington Boulevard and Middle Neck Road.
Shatzkamer said the village has been working on getting this study done since Feb. 2013, when Village of Flower Hill Mayor Elaine Phillips wrote to the DOT asking for the study because of monthly accident reports the village received from the Nassau County Police Department’s Third Precinct.
The one-page letter, which Shatzkamer referenced during her report at Monday’s Board of Trustees meeting, said the state DOT’s regional office on Long Island “conducted a preliminary investigation of this location and determined the left turn lane for southbound [Port Washington Boulevard] does not have enough storage capacity and traffic backs up during peak periods.”
The state DOT “will evaluate alternative options prior to the initial design phase and environmental analysis of the proposed project,” the letter said.
In Feb. 2013, Shatzkamer said, the village received a letter from the state DOT saying that they had opened up an investigation, but the village did not hear anything else about the investigation for a few months.
On April 2, 2013, Phillips and Shatzkamer attended a meeting with state Sen. Jack Martins, state Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel and representatives from Residents for a More Beautiful Port Washington and the Village of Port Washington North to ask the state DOT if they could expand the study to look into all of Port Washington Boulevard.
Nine days later, Shatzkamer said, the state DOT sent a letter back saying that they would expand the study.
In Jan. 2015, Shatzkamer said, the village received a report of the investigation from the state DOT which included accident analysis, a speed study and signal timing.
The DOT recommended changing the speed limit along Port Washington Boulevard from 45 mph to 40 mph and adding signage for pedestrian and school crossings, Shatzkamer said.
Shatzkamer said the DOT’s recommended changes went into effect within a month after the village received the report.
Despite the DOT saying that their accident analysis looked at village accident data from the intersection of Port Washington Boulevard and Middle Neck Road, Shatzkamer said, the village continued tracking accidents at that intersection.
According to village data, the number of accidents at the intersection seemed to be increasing, Shatzkamer said.
Due to the increase in the number of accidents, the village again reached out to the state DOT, along with the support of Martins and Schimel, to investigate the increase accident count, Shatzkamer said.
Shatzkamer said she is happy that the DOT has decided to conduct the scoping study.
“I think that at least [now] the ball is rolling,” she said.
In other business, Graco will be filming a car-seat commercial on Birch Lane on Tuesday, Nov. 3 and Wednesday Nov. 4.
Shatzkamer said traffic will be limited on Birch Lane between Boulder Road and Elderfields Road while the commercial is being filmed.
The village, Shatzkamer said, will receive $2,500 in filming fees.
“We love to have filming in the village,” she said. “It is a nice thing to do. We love the income.”
Phillips was absent from Monday’s meeting.
The next board meeting will be on Monday Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
