Nassau lawmakers, town agree on Syosset road project

A long-delayed project to rebuild part of Jackson Avenue in Syosset cleared a major hurdle Thursday, when the Nassau County Legislature approved an agreement with Oyster Bay Town to rebuild the road.

Under the agreement, the county will give Oyster Bay $3 million toward the $6-million cost of rebuilding and widening Jackson Avenue, which serves about 20,000 vehicles daily. Oyster Bay will pay for the remainder of the project and future maintenance. Work could start as early as November, officials said.

The project passed in a unanimous voice vote, belying the years of wrangling among county Democrats and Republicans over the project.

Nassau Legis. Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury), a longtime advocate for the project, alluded to those delays before the vote. "This didn't just happen," she said. "We all know it didn't just happen."

Laura Schultz, the vice president of the group Residents For a More Beautiful Syosset, thanked legislators after the vote. "We've waited a long time for this to happen, and boy, are we happy about it," she said.

Residents and drivers have long complained about Jackson Avenue, a major artery that's riddled with potholes. Last year, the county had agreed to do the project with the help of a $3 million federal transportation grant.

When the federal stimulus bill was approved in February, the county applied for funding to cover its share. But the U.S. Department of Transportation eventually found the project didn't meet its standards and pulled the $3-million grant.

In April, Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto offered to take control of the project, which eventually led to Thursday's vote.

In other action, the legislature unanimously approved a $1.006 million bond for lump sums for 12 worker compensation claims. Nassau's risk manager, Hector Santiago, told legislators the lump sum would save the county $2.78 million it would have paid over a period of between 20 and 30 years.

With Sid Cassese