The answer is still no

On Monday night at Sea Cliff Village Hall, the board of trustees revisited the public discussion about making Cliff Way — a road that leads to Sea Cliff Beach — one-way year-round. Residents once again said no to the proposal, which had been recommended by the Nassau County Department of Public Works to reduce traffic congestion.

“By making it one-way, we would make this an invitation for people to speed down that road,” said former Mayor Claudia Moyne. “There’s no reason for making this change to Cliff Way. We’re just asking for trouble, especially when the roads get icy in the winter.”

Moyne also said that she sees people speeding on Cliff Way often, and suggested that having police officers sit by the stop sign on the road once a week would help slow down these drivers. But Althea MacDonald, who lives on Foster Place, said that reaching out to the police can be frustrating.

“I’m sure a lot of people like myself call the Police Department like the board advises,” MacDonald said, “but for whatever reason, the dispatcher on the other end really isn’t familiar with the area.”

One of the common issues with Nassau County Police Department’s 3rd Precinct, she added, is that authorities sometimes mistake Sea Cliff for Seaford.

“Because they’re not familiar with the area, that might delay the police’s response time, for whatever it’s worth,” she said.

Jerry Romano, of Sea Cliff, suggested that the village create a traffic circle near Cliff Way, at the intersection of Prospect and Carpenter avenues. He said that drivers hardly stop at the stop signs, and that adding a traffic circle might slow them down.

“I’m an action person,” Romano said. “I see a problem, here’s the solution, and then you execute it. I want to know the downside and the upside to adding a traffic circle.”

Trustee Dina Epstein, who is also a member of the village’s Traffic and Safety Committee, explained that creating a traffic circle would not be as easy as it might sound. “The village is not equipped to go out tomorrow and make a traffic circle,” she said. “We would need a lot of money to do that.”

“This situation isn’t going to be fixed overnight,” Mayor Ed Lieberman said. “This issue has been brewing for decades, and if it’s coming out of our pocket, then we need to make sure that we’re doing something legitimate and cost-effective.”

Lieberman added that residents should be more cognizant of the speed limits. “It doesn’t take that much effort,” he said. “The point is that we, as a village, have to learn to take the rules of the road more seriously before someone gets injured.

“Right now, we’re not equipped to take short-term direction,” Epstein said, “but we are doing research, we’re going to be making recommendations, present them to the board, and then hopefully to the county.”

The Traffic and Safety Committee meets on the third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. in Village Hall. Residents can share their suggestions.