Editorial

Time to invest more in our roads

Posted

Our roads, from the parkways to our villages’ side streets, are among the most important pieces of infrastructure here in Nassau County. We use them to get to work, school, stores, restaurants and doctors’ offices. They are the lifeline for emergency vehicles.

In yet another merciless winter, our roads have taken a beating. Anyone who’s been behind the wheel anywhere on the South Shore can attest to this, having most likely spent the past month and a half traveling on roads that look more like thick-cut Swiss cheese. Potholes come in all shapes, sizes and depths, are often unavoidable and, according to the Automobile Association of America, cost drivers $6.4 billion per year in vehicle damage. That cost can range from $50 for a wheel alignment to several hundred dollars for new tires, or new shocks and struts.

The freeze-and-thaw pattern and the constant plowing during the past two winters has taken a toll on pavement everywhere, and it’s time for our elected officials and public-works departments to do something about it. The snow has finally begun to melt, and eventually temperatures will stay above freezing. Our state, county, city, town and village highway crews have been busy filling potholes as a stop-gap measure in recent weeks, but serious road repairs cannot take place until the weather warms up for good.

Some roads need to be completely stripped and repaved, as we saw last year on stretches of Hempstead Turnpike, Sunrise Highway, Peninsula Boulevard and the Meadowbrook Parkway. There are thousands of miles of streets and roads in Nassau County that workers didn’t get to last year or that have joined the list of those needing attention thanks to this year’s barrage of bad weather.

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