The Town of North Hempstead town board on Tuesday unanimously voted to set a uniform speed limit of 30 mph on Roslyn Road in an effort to improve safety measures on the road that has been the scene of several accidents in the last few years, including one in which two teenagers were killed.
“This road is calling for these improvements,” said Nassau County Legislator Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury), whose district includes Roslyn Heights where the accidents have taken place. “You are doing a lot tonight to make sure that happens.”
Roslyn Road from I.U. Willets Road to the Long Island Expressway is currently has a 40 mph speed limit.
Roslyn Road is a county road but the speed limit is set by the Town of North Hempstead, Jacobs said.
Town Councilman Peter Zuckerman (D-Roslyn) said while a uniform speed limit would “enhance public safety,” there are still many more steps needed to address the problems of Roslyn Road, including placing a streetlight at the intersection of Roslyn Road and Locust Lane, where two Mineola teenagers died on March 5 after crashing into the rear fence of a Roslyn Heights home.
“I’m a firm believer that we need a streetlight at this lane,” Zuckerman said.
Jacobs also expressed her support for a traffic light at the intersection, saying she was working with the county to have one installed as soon as possible.
Zuckerman and Jacobs also said they were working to eliminate the cutoff to Locust Lane and place a turning signal in an effort to slow down traffic.
Locust Lane is a town-owned road.
Ron Rosen, whose 66 Oak Lane residence straddles Roslyn Road and Locust Lane and has been the scene of numerous accidents, said he appreciated the speed limit passed by the town board but said that more police surveillance needed to be placed on the road to increase safety.
“In reality, even with the signs that are up now people don’t listen,” he said.
Roslyn Heights resident Victor Adesso also said that police surveillance on the road would be necessary to eliminate speeding on the road.
“Speed limits are useless without enforcement, of which there is none,” he said.
Several accidents that have occurred on Roslyn Road have taken place near Rosen’s home, including the March 5 crash that killed Mineola residents Steven Clancy and Javier Gonzalez who crashed into Rosen’s backyard fence.
Rosen said the accidents have “been traumatic for me and my family.”
Following the March 5 crash, the Town of North Hempstead placed a 60-foot-long guardrail along Locust Lane to protect Rosen’s property.
Nassau County officials placed a speed radar sign on the grassy median near Locust Lane, following the crash, and added signage warning motorists of the intersection’s curve onto Locust Lane.
In other developments:
• The town board unanimously voted to pass a law that would require utility companies to remove decommissioned utility poles that fall within the Town of North Hempstead.
“This is something I think we can be very proud of,” Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth said.
The law will require a utility company to remove an old pole 60 days after installing a new pole or face a $500 fine.
Under the law, of the three utilities that run wires on a pole – telephone, electric and cable – the one that is last to remove its wire would be responsible for removing the decommissioned pole.
The wires will be removed from top to bottom, town officials said.
Bosworth also announced that the town will work with a utility that is responsible for removing the pole, if that company does not normally remove poles from the ground.
“Double-poles” tend to occur when utility connections from damaged poles must be transferred to a new pole, or if a stronger pole is necessary to support heavier equipment. But council members have said the poles are not swapped in a timely fashion.
The town board also unanimously passed a law that would require signs warning people when pentachlorophenol, a Class 2B carcinogen that is used as a wood preserver, is present in a utility pole.
The law became necessary, she said, after PSEG Long Island put up several 80-foot utility poles in Great Neck, Manhasset and Port Washington as part of a reliability project that contained ‘penta’ and have become a source of complaints from residents and town officials.
• The town board tabled a vote on approving a site plan application for a new shopping center to be located at 2350 Jericho Turnpike in Garden City Park, pending a determination from the state Department of Transportation on whether it would allow the developer, Blumenfeld Development Group, to place a curb cut on Jericho Turnpike.
The proposed 157,967 square foot shopping center would consist of an LA Fitness, a restaurant and a retail store. The site is the former location of Pergament Home Center, but has remained vacant for 14 years.
Residents living near the proposed shopping center opposed the development, citing concerns of noise, safety and traffic.
• The town board unanimously voted to ban skateboarding on Deepdale Drive, Great Oak Road and Quaker Ridge Road – all town roads in Manhasset that have been the source of complaints from residents who say out-of-town teenagers have been using the streets as their own personal skate park.
• The town board approved applications for nine underground gasoline storage tanks at two gas stations in New Hyde Park. A gas station at 2201 New Hyde Park Road will have two 20,000 gallon tanks and a gas station at 650 Hillside Avenue will have three 10,000 gallon tanks – with one tank being split between 5,000 gallons of gasoline and 5,000 gallons of diesel.
