The complete shutdown of New Hyde Park Road is almost upon local residents as the date chosen by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and 3rd Track Constructors (3TC) is Monday, Feb. 3.
The full closure of New Hyde Park Road, which will have adverse effects on the Village of Garden City, has been discussed quite frequently at previous village board meetings with New Hyde Park Mayor Lawrence Montreuil who said that the complete closure would be a heavy burden for the village to undertake.
“Despite our objections, the MTA and 3TC will accomplish the work by completely closing New Hyde Park Road for the seven months of the project,” Montreuil said in a letter to residents on the village’s website. “3TC cited several reasons for this departure from the previously approved plan that included a two-lane bypass road (one lane in each direction). After a close analysis and review of options, and pros and cons we have come to terms that the best option is for the full closure of New Hyde Park Road.”
Now that New Hyde Park Road will be fully shutdown, the grade crossing elimination work will be reduced from nine months to seven months based on lessons learned from previous work. The village insisted that 3TC minimize traffic impact by covering the summer months as much as possible with the road expected to reopen by Labor Day.
The New Hyde Park grade crossing is being reconstructed to feature a new five-lane underpass with pedestrian sidewalks on the east and west sides of the underpass. There will also be a dedicated left-turn lane from southbound New Hyde Park Road to Clinch Avenue in Garden City.
“The village insisted that the outreach for the traffic mitigation plan extend to a much broader area, north and south of New Hyde Park, to include for example, employers in the Lake Success office center and other large employers,” Montreuil said. “The Covert Avenue closure resulted in a 10 to 15 percent reduction in the total traffic through New Hyde Park. A broader and more effective outreach is designed to divert more traffic around New Hyde Park (Tulip Avenue, Nassau Boulevard, etc.). The village may also impose local measures to react to traffic conditions such as partial closure of South 12th Street, installing speed bumps on South 12th Street, creating turning lanes from South 12th Street at Jericho Turnpike.”
Additionally, the village recommended commercial traffic be routed to Tulip Avenue in Floral Park to the west and Nassau Boulevard in Garden City to the east. The village suggested the installation of a temporary traffic signal at Denton Avenue at Tanners Pond Road to regulate traffic through the narrow underpass, maintaining Tanners Pond Road as a viable detour route. Covert Avenue is likely to take a greater load of traffic with the New Hyde Park Road closure. 3TC estimates that traffic volume on Covert Avenue will increase between 79 to 106 percent when work begins.
“We will invite the Nassau County Police Department to aggressively enforce vehicle traffic laws to ensure safety and compliance,” Montreuil continued in the letter. “We will continue to monitor Covert Avenue as the project unfolds and work closely with the county. The CEO of NICE Bus informed me that Covert Avenue via Stewart Avenue will most likely be the temporary route of the N25 bus. I have asked that the use of Sixth Avenue between New Hyde Park Road and Covert Avenue be avoided.”
