South Cherry Valley Ave. is still full of pits

Now that the icy, slushy roads have left us, hopefully for many months to come, a new road nemesis has taken over, just waiting to eat the cars that dare to pass over them: potholes.

Suddenly, there seems to be quite a proliferation of them, just waiting to prompt wheel alignments, new tires, shocks and struts.

Seeing too many on the roads, the Malverne/West Hempstead Herald asked our readers last week which streets have caused the most trouble and the answer was overwhelming: South Cherry Valley Avenue in West Hempstead.

This is one rocky road full of holes and littered with chunks of black top debris throughout its first several blocks south of Hempstead Turnpike.

Like its residents, the Town of Hempstead is well aware of the road’s condition, and last August, awarded a $1.4 million contract to Richard W. Grim, Inc. of Remsenburg to repair South Cherry Valley Ave. The contract amount also included other roads in Elmont and Garden City South.

The work, according to statements made by town officials last year, was to begin in September 2014 and end before the conclusion of fall last year.

After news of the contract was announced, a sign confirming the upcoming work was planted on the road shortly thereafter, and still remains in that spot today. But residents continue to wait for the roadwork to begin.

“I called just before Thanksgiving to see why there was such a delay, and I was told it was supposed to be completed within two weeks,” said Kimberly Orlic, a West Hempstead resident. “That was November. It was never done.”

There seems to be, however, some light at the end of the tunnel. According to Susan Trenkle-Pokalsky, a press secretary for the Town of Hempstead, “The contactors were delayed last year and didn’t get to finish it before the winter hit,” she said. “I believe they will be starting it up shortly – within the next week or so — and should be finished relatively quickly.”

More news about pothole repair in the Town of Hempstead will be posted online shortly.