Wellington Road and Garfield Avenue residents saw the first stage of street improvements they have long called for last week: Two dozen large trees in front of their homes were cut down to make way for a full-scale reconstruction of their roads.
Those living on the roughly half-mile stretch of Wellington Road between Jericho Turnpike and 1st Street and the quarter-mile stretch of Garfield Avenue between Mineola Boulevard and Marcellus Road slated for reconstruction, have said the street outside their homes is unsafe, slanted and full of potholes that fill up with water that attracts mosquitoes and bacteria when it rains.
In short, they say, it’s badly in need of repair.
Though Mineola Mayor Paul Pereira said he “obviously” didn’t want to cut the trees down for the project, village engineers determined doing so was necessary because their root systems were compromising the road and would interfere with the upcoming reconstruction residents had requested.
Wellington and Garfield residents have advocated for their streets to be selected for reconstruction in front of the village board multiple times in past years and in calls and complaints to the village hall, advocating for Mineola to prioritize their stretch of street in its yearly road repaving efforts.
Pereira said he took their concerns seriously and prioritized the project, agreeing with residents that it was a particularly challenged street and that it was necessary for the village to invest in the comprehensive repair.
“This will be a full reconstruction of the road, which means the road is literally pulled up, the base is reset, the pitch is re-engineered, the drainage is reconfigured, the curbs on both sides and the gutters are redone,” Pereira said. “We’re not simply just filling up the asphalt on top…We’re doing the full process. It takes longer, but it lasts longer, and it will fix any flooding issues, any water drainage issues.”
Pereira said roughly six more trees were set to be cut down in the coming weeks, but once the street reconstruction is complete, all lost trees will be replaced with new ones, likely in the same spot as those that were removed.
The reconstruction will cost an estimated $1.4 million, though it could cost roughly double that if a concrete slab currently in the middle of Wellington Road has to be removed, the mayor said.
Work is projected to begin sometime in October and be completed in June next year.
