East Williston to replace asphalt sidewalks with pavers

Noah Manskar
The Village of East Williston plans to replace asphalt sidewalks with brick pavers along East Williston Avenue. (Photo by Noah Manskar)

Crews will soon begin replacing about two blocks of sidewalks in East Williston that have caused safety concerns.

The asphalt sidewalks along East Williston Avenue will be replaced with brick pavers, a project that the village started planning last fall, Trustee Christopher Siciliano said at a recent Board of Trustees meeting.

The new sidewalks will stretch from Bengeyfield Drive to High Street on the north side of the thoroughfare, and from Post Lane to the last historic house near Roslyn Road on the south side, Siciliano said. Another short stretch in front of the Devlin Field park west of the Wheatley House condominiums will also be redone, he said.

That’s a big project, “Siciliano said at the board’s July 18 meeting. “The project’s going to pretty much entail both sides of the street and also the park area, so we’re going to be doing pretty much the whole thing except for where the condos are with the cement sidewalks.”

JRH Landscaping will do the work for $81,500, Marie Hausner, the village clerk, said. Work is expected to begin in the next two weeks, but there is not yet a firm start date, Hausner said.

The sidewalks have long been difficult to walk and were made worse by trees whose roots were pushing up through the asphalt, Siciliano said. The village removed several trees late last fall, he said.

“It was a safety issue,” Siciliano said.

The pavers will make the village’s historic district look similar to the Village Green, where they already line sidewalks, Siciliano said. The project will also replace the concrete aprons on curb cuts for cars along the stretch, he said.

Siciliano said the project’s length will depend partly on the weather, because workers must lay down concrete before placing the pavers.

Workers will also lay electrical conduits below the sidewalks so the village can eventually install lighting in the aprons, Siciliano said.

“We’re trying to think ahead of the game,” he said.

One resident last month urged the board to get the project done before the weather turns cold.

“It’s very difficult to walk on, and the frost is coming,” said the resident, who did not state her name at the meeting.

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