The Other Shore Road (Mill Neck)
It seems that Nassau County will be moving forward with plans to reconstruct West Shore Rd. with construction starting in September of ’07 and continuing through May of ’08. This is a $16.5 million project that will apparently be undertaken specifically without public input.
The following is a link to Nassau County’s “Capital Improvement Plan 2007 – 2010”.
http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/OMB/Docs/PDF/2007_Nassau_Capital_Budget.pdf
Go to page 257 of the document (pg. 273 in the adobe page window at the bottom of the window).
The second paragraph of the Project Description section states “This project is for the discrete rehabilitation of sections of this roadway and seawall. Several alternatives for this improvement have met with community opposition, however at this time, consensus has been developed with the elected officials on a conceptual plan to move this project forward.”
It is difficult to tell how extensive this plan is from this document. Last year’s version of the same document states under the Current Status section “Currently evaluating options for improvements to this road. Options include a bike path”, while this document states “Currently designing seawall only, not the road”.
Several years ago I attended the public meeting regarding a past design that I believe was considerably larger in scope. If my memory serves me correctly, the estimated cost of that project was ~$40 million. The project included widening, straightening and raising the road, adding a third “breakdown lane”, a 5’ wide sidewalk and replacing the existing seawall with a corrugated steel seawall (to achieve that rusty industrial look). That project faced considerable opposition. Some of the concerns that were expressed were the lack of a bike path, the corrugated steel wall, the considerable widening, encroachment into existing wetlands and the fact that no there was no plan to place the utility wires underground. There was also no plan to raise the section of roadway under the trestle, which, as we all know, is the first place to flood.
It is obvious that this roadway and seawall are in need repair and replacement, but doing so without public input is a serious breach of public trust. The likelihood is that in order to reduce the cost of the project, a corrugated steel wall will be used in place of the existing concrete wall. I hope that this is not the case. To me this is unacceptable and will result in one of our community’s most valuable resources looking like an industrial shipyard.
We need to demand that this plan will be presented to the public during the planning stage so that our concerns can be addressed.
Barry E. Lamb
Bayville
Re Shore Road project: I would like to see a wide enough bike AND walk path on this roadway, to connect two beautiful harbor villages. Some day we could have a path from Bayville through to Oyster Bay's Eastern Waterfront. I can imagine a cantilevered path over the wetlands. Also, it is so important to repair this roadway and bulkhead ALL AT ONCE, instead of these multiple smaller fixes that each time leave more debris in the wetlands.
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While I understand the desire to fix long standing problems with the road, there is little value in doing it "wrong". Citizens want to enhance the safety, walkability and beauty of the approaches to their harbor. We need more public input in the total design. Let's try again to work on a "master plan" for Shore Road.
Caroline S. DuBois, Oyster Bay Cove
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Barry,
Thank you for again putting a well written and researched article on the blog for all of our edification.
Who do you suggest we call/write/email to register our displeasure with the way this project is proceeding?
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I read the page. I hope they will list a better description of what they plan to do otherwise how will we oppose?
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JaneD,
Our Nassau County Legislator is Diane Yatauro and she is probably our best bet. She may not even be aware of the proposed project, but is certainly in a position to find out quickly. Her address is:
The Honorable Diane Yatauro
Nassau County Legislature
One West Street
Mineola, NY, 11501
I don't have her phone # or E-mail, but you may be able to find more contact information on Nassau County's website.
Barry
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Doing a search I did find her email contact info.
http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/legis/LD/18/contact.html
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Barry and or Tom,
For those of us who are contacting Diane Yatauro, would it be premature to ask her to look into this and possibly hold a Village wide meeting, with the Mayor, to inform the Village of the proposed project scope?
If it is premature, what exactly should we be asking her? I do not want to jot out a letter, that will easily be answered by a "thanks for your interest" form letter reply.
Thanks,
Margaret
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Diane Yatauro's email is:
DYatauro@NassauCountyNY.gov
and Senator Marcellino's is:
Marcelli@senate.state.ny.us
Maybe they'll see that we get a nice bike/walk pathway if they can put their name on it!!
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Margaret,
It certainly isn't premature to ask her to commit to seeing to it that there be a public meeting before the design of the project is finalized. If the design is finalized, then the public meeting and/or comment period would be of no use. The earlier in the process that a consensus is developed, the less costly the project.
Barry
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Barry: After learning that our Nassau County Presiding office Judy Jacobs had met in 2003 with NY Bicycling Coalition about safer Nassau County roads with bike paths, I contacted the NYBC and received a good reply. The NYBC is currently preparing their 2007 legislative outreach, and they would like additional information on West Shore Road. You the man. Their Executive Director is Joshua Poppel, 518-436-0889, joshua@nybc.net, PO Box 8868 Albany, NY 12208
Call on me for any assistance,
Carla Panetta
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All the roads in our community need to be re-examined for their bicycle and pedestrian safety. In particular, speed limits for cars need to be enforced and hazards like pot holes and overhanging branches need to be eliminated.
Caroline S. DuBois
Oyster Bay Cove
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Carla,
I called Joshua Poppel and left a message and also E-mailed Diane Yatauro and asked her to look into the project and get back to me. I also invited her to join the discussion and provided her with the link. Hopefully we can get everybody communicating and build a consensus on how this project should proceed.
Barry
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I see it's been 2 years since anyone posted in this thread, but I had an experience on Shore Road last week that has troubled me deeply. Last Sunday, Sept. 28th, I was heading towards Oyster Bay on Shore Road. There was a man on a Bicycle just ahead of the car ahead of me. I noticed that he appeared to start losing his balance, and veered off into the bushes on the right, then fell into the middle of the road, causing the car ahead of me to swerve into the opposite lane to avoid him, and forcing me to stop short, blocking the road to avoid others from hitting him. Fortunately, there were no cars approaching from Oyster Bay, and there was no car behind me. We got out of our cars to find the bicyclist unconscious, and we immediately called 911 to get him help. Since then, I have taken even more notice of the incredible amount of bicyclists on Shore Road. Whether they be recreational "Lance Armstrong Wannabes", or the carless commuting to work or home, I can't remember the last time I went down Shore Road with encountering a bicyclist. It is probably only a matter of time until we see a fatality of a bicylist on Shore Road. I think it's time the land on the water side of the road is turned into a paved, guardrailed bike/walking path that stretches from The Bridge to the Train Tressel. There seems to be enough room, and parts of it are already paved. I think this project needs to be seriously looked at by Nassau County, as it will greatly ease traffic hazards caused by the many bicyclists, and will dramatically increase safety. Of course, it will probably take someone dying to get anyone to notice.
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I wholeheartedly agree, Surfcaster. I have cycled the road several times from Bayville to Oyster Bay to join the evening sailing races out of Sagamore Yacht Club, returning by night. I carry lights on my bicycle (why do so many people not? That's madness) but still find that portion of the trip nervewracking. And having driven it many, many times at night in pouring rain, and being aware of how hard it is to see unlit bycyclists or pedestrians in such conditions, my worries are well justified.
So where to start? Who is responsible for the road?
Mark
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Years ago (I don't remember when exactly) there was a proposal made to widen and improve Shore Road, add a bike lane as well as turning lanes at the Cleft Road traffic light. The county was to do the rehab. The plan was killed by local residents who felt that improving the road would lead to increased speeding (which I think is a valid argument.)
Also, Oyster Bay is protected wetlands so any improvements that infringe on Oyster Bay side have to have several other agencies involved.
As for Shore Road, Bikers pose a real problem. Often they ride two or three abreast which backs up traffic.
There are also drivers who still insist on passing even though there is a double yellow line.
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I figured that since that area is a wetlands preserve, there would probably be a lot of red tape to cut through in order to get this accomplished. I can understand not widening the road itself, as people drive way too fast as it is (A big F-U to the guy in the BMW that passed me and my 1 year old last night, apparently 45mph wasn't fast enough for him). From what I can see though, there seems to be enough room on the shoulder already, and it would just require blacktoping some grass. The biggest problem I see are the phone poles, as well as a small stretch in the midddle where the shoulder is very small. I really think that County Lawmakers need to be informed of the potential hazards that bicyclists and motorists are facing on Shore Road. I'm going to attempt to contact the County DOT, to see if I can find out what governing body is responsible for Shore Road.
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That’s great, I never thought about this like that before.
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I just love the bicicylists who often DO NOT RIDE SINGLE FILE ON SHORE ROAD. Then when they do they ride toward the middle of the lane. If they can't go 30 MPH steadily then STAY ON THE SIDE of the road or practice elsewhere because that puts everyone in jepordy.
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Why I can not print a document?
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This is interesting post. I wish you could have a successful future. Thanks!
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