Village of Rockville Centre will repave worst roads

The Village of Rockville Centre will repave more than a mile and a half of roadway on seven streets this summer. All residents on the affected streets have been sent letters explaining the work and announcing when it is expected to begin and end.

The largest projects include Harvard Avenue from Lakeview to DeMott and Bulson Road from North Village to Hempstead Avenue. Other sites are River Avenue from Shellbank to the village border and four dead ends: Cumberland Street from Merrick Road, Lincoln Court from Lincoln Avenue, Windham Road from Columbia and Neylon Court from Bulson Road.

Preceding roadway reconstruction, the roadbed is excavated to lay in new water mains where needed and replace valves and fire hydrants. Electrical work includes new conduits and manholes and street lighting in some areas.

Construction costs for the paving and drainage improvements and for replacing the curbs and driveway aprons are nearly $2.2 million. Water Department costs are close to $1.2 million and Electric Department costs are about $515,000.

Roadway repairs are paid from the capital fund by bonds whose debt service is paid by village taxes. Water main and electrical work are paid from utility budgets, which are supported by water and electric rates.

During roadway reconstruction, which includes the preparation of the roadbed and the replacement of all curbs, it may be necessary to remove some curbside trees.

“Trees are removed for two reasons only,” said Tom Cardile, director of the Department of Public Works: “because the tree roots are impacting the roadway or the water lines or because the trees are diseased and pose a safety and liability hazard if left in place.”

Once tree roots are severed to make way for the new construction, trees may be weakened and pose a hazard, Cardile said.

The village has hired an independent arborist to report on trees on the affected streets. If the arborist agrees with the engineer’s judgment and a tree needs to be removed, the village will send a letter to the homeowner explaining the reasons and will follow-up the letter with a visit.

The village will replace all the trees it removes free of charge as part of its annual tree planting program.

The village owns the property from the back edge of the sidewalk to the curb, but each homeowner is responsible for maintenance of that area.

The 1.66 mile 2011 roadway construction program to begin this summer includes the two streets graded “F” by last year’s independent engineering study and several of the roads graded “D” by the study.

Mayor Mary Bossart said at the May 9 Board of Trustees meeting that the village hopes to repave all the remaining “D” graded roads, about another 1.6 miles on nine streets, in 2012.

Since 1986, the village has repaved about 70 percent of its 52 miles of roadway.

In addition to the roadway program, the village is undertaking an engineering study of several intersections that suffer chronic flooding. The mayor announced that the affected intersections include Roxen Road and Glenwood Road, Lehigh Court and Beverly Road, and Hawthorne Avenue and South Kensington Avenue.