Roadway project causes furor

Though the Village of Lawrence Board of Trustees voted in July to approve a plan to widen Williams Street by three feet and introduce two-way traffic to what is now a one-way street, community anger over the project has persuaded trustees to review the plan at the next board meeting.

Mayor Martin Oliner, who cast one of the two votes opposing the plan, said he is concerned that legal and liability issues could be raised if the proposed $32,000 project moves forward.

Williams Street is located between Central Avenue and Mulry Lane. Asked what prompted the decision to widen it and make it a two-way street, Oliner said that heavy traffic needed to be redirected from Washington Avenue, which runs parallel to Williams. The plan calls for enlarging the street from its current 18.3-foot width to 21.3 feet.

Oliner independently reviewed a report prepared by Cameron Engineering, of Woodbury, and produced his own findings, which he presented to the board at a November meeting.

“A widening of Williams Street, as shown on the plan prepared by the village, results in one sidewalk being narrower than five feet, which is the minimum allowed by the Americans with Disabilities Act,” Oliner said. “In addition, the east-side sidewalk, in the vicinity of the bollards across from the [Seasons] parking lot exit, would likely be less than two feet wide. This would preclude use by even ambulatory pedestrians, forcing all to walk in an active, narrow roadway. The presence of elderly residents in the immediate area makes this a critical issue.”

With the street widened to 21.3 feet, and with sidewalks five feet and two feet wide on either side, that would leave vehicles with 14.3 feet of roadway, or 7.15 feet in either direction. An average car is five to six feet wide, and a Ford Expedition SUV is 6.6 feet wide.

Marty Weinberg, a resident of the Plaza apartment building on Central Avenue, adjacent to Williams Street, described the proposed plan as a “catastrophe.” “Only when someone gets fatally struck will they realize how stupid this move was,” Weinberg said. “There are 80- and 90-years-olds coming out of the parking garage and they already can’t see over the wheel, so what are you going to expect?”

Liane Feur, a business owner in Lawrence for 30 years whose Haber Travel Service office is in a building on Central Avenue that has been struck by a number of vehicles through the years, vehemently disapproved of the project. “This plan can’t work,” Feur said. “People are coming the wrong way and constantly making U-turns. They don’t obey the [traffic] laws. This plan is ridiculous.”

A Central Avenue business owner who declined to be identified said that the buses coming from Mesivta Ateres Yaakov High School, at the intersection of Mulry Lane and Washington Avenue, cause Washington Avenue to become congested. “It’s a nightmare,” the business owner said of the Williams Street project. “[The village] said they will make it so people can only make a right turn out of Williams Street onto Central Avenue, but unless a cop sits there, people will turn left.”

The business owner, who said he was involved in a car accident at the intersection of Williams Street and Central Avenue nearly 10 years ago, concluded that the project is not a good idea. “The street is not wide enough, and Central Avenue is too busy,” he said. “A pedestrian is going to be killed, and there are elderly people around here. I helped an elderly woman who fell and cracked her head open. And that was without traffic.”

Village Trustee Ed Klar, who voted for the Williams Street project, called it “a common-sense solution,” the result of years of complaints from residents, business owners and the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department that Washington Avenue is too crowded. “Cameron Engineering’s report said this is the best solution,” Klar said. “This seems to be the best way to go to solve all the problems.”

Deputy Mayor Joel Mael and Trustee Michael Fragin also approved the plan. Trustee C. Simon Felder opposed it.

Oliner said that the project would work better if parking spaces were eliminated on the northeast corner of Central Avenue and Williams Street, so motorists making a right turn onto Central Avenue could see better. “The removal of two or more parking spaces may be viewed negatively by the retail owners proximate to this intersection, so they would have to be informed,” he said. “Trucks should also be prohibited from traveling on Williams Street due to the narrow roadbed in a two-way configuration.”

A public forum to once again discuss the project is planned for the village meeting on Dec. 15 at 8 p.m. in Village Hall.