Road Improvements Finally Under Way

It was back in 1992 that Nassau County revealed its Warner/Lincoln and Round Hill Road expansion plans.

Things did not always run smoothly. By 1994, local citizens formed a joint committee with members from the greater Roslyn area, comprised of civic leaders and engineers: Edward Baker, Ernie Bubeck, William Costigan, Elaine Cirlin, Diane Lipari, Linda Nathanson, Judy Pace, Tom Seligman, and Judi Winters.

The committee redesigned the proposed plan and presented it to the county engineers. The Village of East Hills contracted with the firm of Sydney Bowne to translate the citizen plan into a more formal engineers draft. All the while, the Town of North Hempstead was in negotiations regarding the transference of ownership of Warner and Lincoln Avenues.

Throughout the years, committee members were in continual contact with the changing cast of local officials.

Now 16 years later, residents in the Roslyn area are getting the road that committee members envisioned all along, one that they hope will assure a safer quality of life for all future generations.

One of the civic leaders involved in securing road improvement was Judi Winters. She recently told the story of the expansion plans to The Roslyn News.

"In August 2003, I received a call from Donna Boyle of the DPW to come down to their offices to view the completed, and readjusted plan," Ms. Winters said. "She assured me that the funding was finally fully available and that the DPW was going ahead full force with this plan.

"This project finally appeared on the agenda of our county legislature three years later on December 5, 2006," she continued. "At that time, in a public statement to the legislature, I urged them to no longer delay this project, that this community has waited far too long and sought their complete approval. It passed 19 to 0. Once again the plan was delayed. Although it was unanimous, the motion had to be submitted for a second vote in accordance with legislative process. The plan in its entirety was finally approved in early 2007. Yet, there were more hurdles, more setbacks! The County Attorney had to negotiate 27 easements with other municipalities and commercial entities and then draft and file an Environmental Impact Statement.

"We are thrilled and delighted to let the community know that, either by the publication of this letter or within the next few weeks you hopefully will notice equipment being moved into the Warner/Lincoln/Roslyn Road area," Ms. Winters said. "This long awaited and anticipated project will begin. Jerry Leonetti will be the DPW's project manager (571-6926), housed at the construction site in a building near the train tracks.

"Most importantly, for you the resident, is to note that there will be traffic delays and detours," Ms. Winters cautioned. "The DPW has informed me that these detours will be announced on Channel 12 News. However, that leaves those who do not receive that station at a loss without timely information. Therefore, we are in the process of setting up other methods of notification to the community. Both the Village of East Hills and the Roslyn School District have agreed to post these area detours on their websites."

Ms. Winters said the anticipated term of the project would be at the very least a year, weather permitting. "To our delight this project will not be coming out of the County coffers alone," Ms. Winters added. "A federal grant has been filed and we should receive approximately some 40 percent of the costs back from the federal government through the state funding process."

Either way, community leaders are pleased to announce that the opening months of 2008 will see the reconstruction of Warner, Lincoln, Roslyn and Round Hill Roads.