The Village of Massapequa Park is looking to completely reconstruct one of its parking lots along with other roadwork after receiving a $1.5 million in federal funding.
Mayor Daniel Pearl said the village is looking at fully reconstructing the parking lot in Park Boulevard, between Front Street and Clark Boulevard, that serves several local businesses, a supermarket and LIRR commuters and is the largest in Massapequa Park.
Pearl said in years past the village has performed work on the parking lot, but now plans to fully overhaul the lot’s infrastructure. The village plans to fix the lot’s blacktop, install new lighting and see if additional spaces can be added, Pearl said.
“We are going to try to make that money go a long way and be fiscally responsible,” he said while adding that he wants the lot to be efficiently used and accessible.
Pearl said the village may also allocate some of the funding for repairs to Park Boulevard heading north from the village’s downtown. He said the village has wanted to repave the road all at once rather than do the project in broken-up sections.
One major force behind the village’s need to repair its driving surfaces is the recent weather, Pearl said. He said the recent snowstorms and extreme cold have played a role in the roads’ weathering.
“Unfortunately, any water that gets into any crack in the road does tremendous damage to the base underneath the asphalt, and that’s where you’re going to see these massive potholes,” Pearl said.
The village typically spends over $1 million on road maintenance each year and Pearl said the village is grateful to receive additional support for its roadways.
“We are extremely thankful to receive the funding from Congressman [Andrew] Garbarino,” Pearl said. “He’s very alert to what the village’s needs are. That money will go a long way to helping our infrastructure.”
In January, the village board unanimously approved using $2.5 million to repair roads and parking lots under three separate serial bond resolutions.
One was for $2 million to finance the costs of reconstructing and rehabilitating village roads; one was for $200,000 to finance the construction of improvements to village parking lots; and one was for $300,000 to acquire machinery and equipment for use by the Department of Public Works, which will work on the projects.
