Two-way traffic for William Street?

For 17 years Atilio and Maria Iantorno have lived on Mulry Lane, a one-way road in the Village of Lawrence that is intersected by William Street.

During that time, the husband and wife have seen how a majority of motorists drive. “Drivers don’t pay attention,” Atilio said, about how drivers ignore STOP signs and other driving rules.

The village wants to implement a trial period of three or four months for two-way traffic on William Street, which is currently a one-way roadway that runs between Central Avenue and Mulry Lane. It would be the second time in the past two years that the village has permitted two-way traffic on William Street for a test run.

“It’s not going to work,” Maria said, pointing out that many elderly people live in the apartment building on Central Avenue and cross William Street. She thinks the increased traffic volume could be a danger to them. “It should stay the same way, it will cause confusion,” she added.

Confusion on what to do with William Street has prevailed since last July when the village board voted 3-2 to spend approximately $35,000 to widen the roadway from 18.3 feet to 21.3 feet. However, Mayor Martin Oliner, who was one of the two no votes — Trustee Simon Felder was the other — has blocked the implementation of that plan. Trustees Michael Fragin, Edward I. Klar and Deputy Mayor Joel Mael approved the plan.

In another vote — that again was 3-2 with the identical split — the trustees voted on March 29 to make William Street a two-way road during a trial period. But, once again, Oliner said he won’t implement the change unless his doubts regarding safety were alleviated. “Implementation is left to the mayor,” he said. “I have to do my job to the best of my conscious.”

Highly critical of the plan, Oliner issued his own critique of the initial Cameron Engineering report that the board members based their decision on. In his two-page opinion he pointed to how the dogleg-like bend in William Street could impact how two vehicles can safely pass. “My major concern is whether that dogleg impacts safety,” he said.

In the past several months, the trustees have debated the merits of both the July plan, making William Street two-way without widening the roadway, but with increased traffic signs and leaving it as a one-way road. A few months ago, the village had Cameron take another look at William Street.

Mael, who introduced the trial period, previously said that the plan to widen William Street and have traffic go in both directions was to resolve what he called a “multiple fold problem,” that has been created due to the high volume of traffic on Central Avenue, the stacking of school buses on Mulry Lane by Mesivta Ateres Yaakov High School and the need for the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department and other emergency responders to access neighborhood streets.

The deputy mayor’s new plan, which is based on the more recent Cameron recommendations, would eliminate the need for construction. New signs would be installed, along with pylons to direct pedestrians. Trucks would be prohibited from turning onto William Street from Mulry Lane.

Mael was put off by Oliner’s response that the mayor isn’t convinced that the changes are safe. “I wasn’t aware this was an advisory board,” Mael said.

However, Oliner is sticking by his belief that safety is paramount. “Unless I believe it’s safe, I’m saying no to this,” he said, about the idea of two-way traffic on William Street.