Island Park Civic concerned about accidents

The members of the Island Park Civic Association, and those in the audience expressed concern about the number of recent accidents on Austin Boulevard. There were five accidents just last week in the stretch from the Long Beach Bridge to Peter’s Clam Bar. Nassau County has done five studies of the traffic on the roadway just on the Island Park portion, and major changes are supposed to be coming, including bump outs to aid with parking, yellow striped medians and the removal of one lane southbound.

County Legislator Denise Ford said the latest holdup is a federal plan to change and upgrade all the traffic lights. She says the county is waiting for more information on that. In addition, she explained that the part of the road just off the Long Beach Bridge, the most southern part of the road in Island Park, is Long Beach Road. Austin Blvd. does not start until after the Long Beach Road cut off, so the most southern portion of the road is part of the Long Beach Road study that is going on now.

The Association held it’s annual election June 9. All candidates ran unopposed. Nick DeMatteo and Patty Ambrosia were elected to the Board of Directors, and Debra Rothman will be the new Vice President.

The special guest was Richard Mullare, a former Coast Guard officer, who spoke on boating safety.