Following an exceptionally harsh winter, Great Neck’s roads have been ravaged by piles of snow and ice, leaving enormous potholes everywhere.
Residents and visitors to the peninsula have complained incessantly that these damaged roads are causing dangerous conditions, with resulting accidents and damage to cars and tires. For the most part, villages and the Town of North Hempstead have responded quickly and taken care of the potholes. However, the main roads in Great Neck are Nassau County roads, with the county solely responsible for the conditions of those roads. Now,
finally, in large part thanks to Nassau County Legislator Ellen Birnbaum, road repair began on Middle Neck Road this week.
The Middle Neck Road work began Monday morning, March 30, “after much nagging and talking everyday,” according to Birnbaum. Middle Neck Road repairs include the length of this vital main road, from Clover Drive to Hicks Lane. The repairs will include milling (removing the top surface) and filling. Middle Neck Road will have no full closures, but each time work is done, one of the two lanes of traffic on the side with the work will be open, while traffic in the opposite direction will flow as usual. Parking will continue to be permitted on the side that is not being worked on and on both sides of the street south off Picadilly Lane and Old Mill Road.
The milling process began earlier this past week and the filling (paving) process is scheduled to begin next week.
Prior to the start of the process Birnbaum and Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman, both of whom had long been advocating for this road repair, met with the engineer, to explain the timing and the logistics of the work. Birnbaum and Kreitzman had input. The project should take two to three weeks, between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., weekdays. So the current road work will, in essence, just be a temporary project. Birnbaum said that this current project was approved on an emergency basis.
Birnbaum explained that her office had been inundated with letters and emails asking for some pothole relief. Residents said that they feared the potholes would eventually cause injuries and one writer termed the situation a “federal disaster area.”
And Birnbaum added that within the next few years there will be a lighting project in the area, upgrading all traffic lights and repaving the road once that work is completed.
