Malverne Plans to Complete Current Roadwork, Put Other Projects On Hold

Street closures, detours, construction signs and uneven roadways have become the norm for residents in the village of Malverne in recent months, but officials say an end is now in sight.

Much of the work is part of the Roadway Improvement Project, which the village began last year to improve the streets. All the roadways in Malverne were accessed and given a grade from A to E, to determine which ones were in the most need of repairs. Since the village would be ripping up these roads it also worked with the local gas and water utility companies to arrange for them to complete any work that also needed to be done in these parts of the village.

In Sept. the village began working on the Pine Brook area, which includes includes Cedar Road, Charles Street, Hanson Place, Hawthrone Place, Johnson Avenue, Linmouth Road, N. Cambridge Street, Rider Avenue, Rolling Street, Wicks Lane and Williams Street. They started fixing pavement, handicap sidewalk ramps, asphalt, driveways lips,  and utilities and drainage issues. This project is currently in Phase 2. The village plans to focus on the Foster Brook section of the village next, addressing  similar issues, but this project is only in Phase 1.

The Foster Brook area includes Ambrose Avenue, Beech Court, Chestnut Street, Harriet Court, Legion Place, Maple Street, Orbach Avenue and Slaby Avenue.

"The plan as of today is that [the current road work] will be complete at the end of November, weather dependent,"Alan King said at the village Board of Trustees meeting held earlier this month. King represents Cameron Engineering and Associates, LLP, which the village hired for the project.

They haven't begun work on the Foster Brook and do not intend to start now until March 2011.

"We didn't want to leave the roads in a state in which the DPW (Department of Public Works) is unable to plow them in the winter," King said.

A portion of the road work, including the recent construction on Rider Avenue, focused on raising some of the streets anywhere from 1 to 2.5 inches. One consequence of this was that some of the driveway aprons on these streets also needed to be fixed.

"If we had not done the aprons, they would've been lower than the roadways," King added, which would have caused drainage issues.

"Usually it's the responsibility of the homeowner to fix their driveways," Deputy Mayor James Callahan said. However, "our work is what caused there to be a problem with their driveway."

Residents also may have noticed that Francis Street, which runs along San-Dee Lanes bowling alley and Associated supermarket, has also been closed in recent weeks and filled with dumpsters and construction vehicles.

Bob Solarino, the director of the village building department, explained that the iconic bowling alley had being suffering leaks every time it rained and something needed to be done.

San-Dee Lanes is actually located in the basement of the large building on Hempstead Avenue, which encompasses the Malverne Movie Theatre and Associated supermarket. The bowling alley spans out under Francis Street, which is where the leak is located.

To fix the problem Solarino described the process of what needed to be done. The sidewalk and a good portion of Francis Street needed to be ripped up, exposing the top and side walls of the vault of the bowling alley. When that was done all the cracks that had caused the leaks in San-Dee Lanes were revealed. The next part of the process was an extremely "laborious" task, stated Solarino. They needed to use a machine that chisels all of the cracks out. Then, once that is completed, a new mixture that will stop the leaks down in the bowling alley will be applied.

Solarino stated, "It was an inconvenience for people and it took a toll on business, but within one week to 10 days all the road work should be completed."

Though these projects have caused some inconveniences and detracted from the aesthetics of the village, Malverne residents should expect to see improved roadways in some areas and a break from the construction. That is, until it resumes in the spring.