Lawrence road finally resurfaced

Cliff Hochhauser of Merrick has a reason to smile. After years of complaining to officials about the deplorable condition of Bay Boulevard in Lawrence, it's finally been repaved by the state Department of Transportation, with new drainage added so it shouldn't flood anymore when it rains.

Before, heavy duty trucks and smaller vehicles would veer away from the potholes and steel rebar that was jutting from the road's concrete underlay. Mr. Hochhauser saw a large truck tip over on its side after hitting a pothole and many near-misses.

We wrote about Mr. Hochhauser's concerns in December last year. The problem had dragged on for years because Bay is a state road but the state wouldn't claim ownership. When we first contacted the DOT about Bay, spokeswoman Eileen Peters told us that the road belonged to the Town of Hempstead. The town knew better and refused to accept the "gift" of ownership from the state. Eventually, the state conceded Bay was theirs, but then blamed the state's fiscal problems for repair delays. Meanwhile, Ranson Road, which meets Bay to form an "L" needed repaving too. But it's a town road and Hempstead thought it pointless to do anything until Bay was done.

Between ownership questions and budget problems that contributed to delays, Mr. Hochhauser contacted state or town officials once a week about the problem, not caring which agency repaired the road, because taxpayers pay for the costs anyway.

His persistence led DOT's regional transportation maintenance engineer Richard B. Causin to write in an e-mail to Peters: "Personally, I see no reason to continue wasting staff time answering the same question from Mr. Hochhauser." We found that characterization of Mr. Hochhauser's calls, well, interesting, and we asked Peters to ask Causin about it.

She e-mailed this response, in part, she said was from Causin: "It was never our intention to show any disrespect to Mr. Hochhauser. However, with increasingly limited resources, we had to move on to address and respond to many, many other pressing issues and requests since we knew our answer [about repaving the road] could not change" until the state budget was passed.

The state's work on Bay cost $298,700, Peters said. It cost $125,000 to resurface Rason Road, town spokesman Michael Deery said. Last year, Deery said the town wouldn't consider taking ownership of Bay Boulevard until it was fixed. Deery said that the town's highway department will reach out to the DOT Monday and offer to meet to discuss possible options, including future maintenance of the road and a transfer of ownership. If that happens, maybe Mr. Hochhauser won't have to go through that same round of calling when the road needs repaving again.

Glen Cove road called accident waiting to happen

Titus Road in Glen Cove is in horrible condition. It's so bad that drivers swerve around the patched-up parts into oncoming traffic. I wrote to the mayor several months ago asking for it to be fixed, but no reply. This road is going to lead to an accident.

- Kenny Stedman, Glen Cove

Done. The roughly 1,200-foot section of Titus was repaved last week. Public Works Director Bill Archambault said the road was on the 2011 repaving list, but the city worked with the contractor and the budget to include it this season. A city engineer had done a preliminary survey just before our call, he said.

City residents with concerns about the roads should call 516-676-4167.

- Michael R. Ebert

Islip Terrace resident says street a speedway

My street connects to Islip Avenue (Route 111) and Carleton Avenue. Cars race down my block as a shortcut. I have contacted a state senator, assemblywoman and the police several times over the years. The Third Precinct did deploy a digital speed-detecting machine that tells how fast drivers are going. That worked for one day. There are many small children on the block and we need help.

- Chris Kenny, Islip Terrace

After we called the Third Precinct, Deputy Insp. Michael J. Caldarelli asked officers to step up patrols to help deter speeding on your street, Mr. Kenny. He noted there haven't been any complaints from other residents about speeding.

"Mr. Kenny's concerns aside, there are no indications that conditions on Fischer Avenue are substantially different from that of other residential streets in the area," Caldarelli wrote in an e-mail.

Since January 2009, Caldarelli said, six summonses have been issued there: five for illegal parking, one for driving with a suspended license.

Third Precinct residents with concerns about speeding can call 631-854-8300.

- Michael R. Ebert