Traffic Comm considering geese crossing signage

“I looked into a bunch of signs and there is one for ducks or ducks with ducklings, or even just stating ‘Wildlife Crossing’ – there are young geese crossing the road along Rockaway Avenue, and where Herricks Road comes south, down to Old Country Road and to Rockaway. Most Garden City residents are careful with geese on the road but for myself, going about 30 mph to Rockaway, there were all these geese there and thank God I knew what to expect,” Harrington said. She mentioned a situation when she walked her dog near Rockaway Avenue and people in the neighborhood were upset as a young driver “plowed through” all the geese once.

Garden City Police Commissioner Kenneth Jackson explained that in other communities, there are road signs indicating larger animals’ presence such as deer, cows, even moose and of course the pedestrian crossing potential for various roadways. He says no designated (yellow) signage exists for geese crossing. The commissioner referenced guidelines from both New York State, and the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which is the standard handbook engineers go by. Nassau County has its own supplemental text to the MUTCD.

“If you do it (install signage for animal crossings) this should go where there’s a significant number of accidents and the regional wildlife managers from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation should be consulted in determining locations. Because there are no deer in Garden City there are no such signs approved locally by the state or MUTCD to cover birds,” Jackson advised. There are no signs with ducks crossing that are part of MUTCD standards.

Trustee Kelly asked DWP Superintendent John Borroni to reach out to the New York State DEC. Trustee Harrington said she will be glad to assist in contacting the state or writing letters to agencies. She considered the impact of trying to protect the geese crossing the roads a “green” thing to do. Borroni added that in addition to the DEC he would seek guidance from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for input on installing appropriate signage.

Update on Parking Passes for Lot 7N

In other Traffic Commission news, the paid parking permits established in 2021 for the residents of rental apartments/condos on Seventh Street to utilize Lot 7N for 24 hours a day parking were reviewed. A new tenant at Hampshire House, Thomas Stenson, told the Commission he and his wife have downsized from their longtime Kilburn Road house to an apartment while staying in the village. He says the permit parking for Lot 7N is limited to the residents of Hilton Hall, not including his apartment complex (Hampshire House) based on the conversations he’s had with village staff and the GCPD.

“That just does not seem right since other local renters adjacent to the parking field, and they should have access to the same parking permits that other renters along Seventh Street do,” he told the Commission.

Trustee Kelly explained that it was not his idea or the intention of the Board of Trustees to limit a parking permit for Lot 7N to the renters of only one Garden City apartment building. A caveat is that buildings with the amount of underground parking spaces as they have apartments (at least one space per unit) would qualify equally. Kelly noted that Stenson’s residence at Hampshire House does not offer that amount of parking.

“The issue here is permit renters of Hampshire House the same parking access for 7N as the renters of Hilton Hall. I recommend we do it and I do not know why we’d give preference to one building over another,” Kelly explained.

Police Commissioner Kenneth Jackson said that the Commission did not have authority to make the change and allow Hampshire House renters to qualify for a permit, as this was originally a municipal ordinance at Board of Trustees’ level, approved two years ago. Trustee Kelly said the Commission could endorse the opportunity for the renters such as Hampshire House residents to have access to Lot 7N parking permits. The permits issued by the village are not for a dedicated space, but they give the right for a resident of the buildings to use one of the permitted spaces set aside in 7N, if one is available.

“We don’t know of any reason to allow this for residents of one adjacent apartment building which has insufficient underground parking to another – they seem similarly situated, and we have the records of the number of apart- ments and spaces buildings have. This gave us an overview,” Kelly shared.

The ability for Hampshire House residents to have access to Lot 7N permits, “in the same manner that residents of Hilton Hall have” was unanimously supported by the Commission, and it will move to a Board of Trustees’ meeting agenda for formal approval.

Crosswalk restriping planned

The Commission chose to have Garden City staff continue the design process for proposed road alterations to First Street between Sunset Lane and Rockaway Avenue. Trustee Kelly explained that at this location the stop signs created “too many accidents at Sunset Lane years ago, and at Mayfair Avenue recently.”

The village aims for a better approach for First Street, as DPW Superintendent Borroni suggested restriping and a crosswalk, which would be in the vicinity of Sunset Lane and Cambridge Avenue. At present there’s no connecting path to Community Park, and this would create a pedestrian link from First Street to the park. The agenda noted that the proposed crosswalk will service not only First Street residents, but also “all residents who walk or bike over to Community Park and the Garden City Pool from the east.”

Speed signs (which tell how fast the vehicle is traveling) were also proposed for the First Street location, and Trustee Kelly said this would be a useful traffic measure.

The next step was outlined as moving the project into a final design phase and receiving the cost estimate, with Board approval of funding to follow. The Commission agreed to move this project forward, and Trustee Kelly directed Borroni to touch base with Creighton Manning LLP on the location of the crosswalk as they had completed the Central section “Numbered Streets” study as well as the Cathedral Avenue Road Diet study.

One-way roads into St. Paul’s

The Commission discussed the issue of the one-way entrances to St. Paul’s from Stewart Avenue, in order to make it clearer for drivers who might be confused when heading to the fields or Field House. Trustee Kelly noted that turning in from westbound Stewart Avenue, the parking lot is on the left at St. Paul’s fields.

“You see so many people exiting on that road so we have to make it clearer that it’s only one-way traffic – we are going to have a head-on with someone turning quickly to the parking area, thinking it’s one-way,” he said.

The points agreed to with Police Commissioner Jackson prior to last week’s Traffic Commission meeting included adding three or more arrows on the roadway pointing north (to indicate that lane is one-way) as well as putting up a DO NOT ENTER sign on one corner of the roadway.

Another concept is changing the arrow upon exiting the main parking lot (the south exit of St. Paul’s onto Stewart) to note both “straight” and “left hand turn” so drivers know they can go straight and would not have to make a left into a dead end. Trustee Kelly says this is key as the village closed off the interior road, rounding to where the cottages are up past the Field House. The interior road is mainly used for deliveries or major events. Commissioner Jackson explained that this was a safety decision made by the Garden City Recreation and Parks Department, to avoid any issues where children play.

One extra suggestion by Commissioner Jackson, based on Recreation Superintendent Paul Blake’s input, was to install two “No Thru Traffic” signs. The Commission was in agreement to create better signage for drivers to avoid any potential issues.

Public Works Superintendent Borroni said the village should “straighten out” the angled parking on the north side of St. Paul’s because it is hard for drivers to pull out of the angled spots, in order to turn back to the exit, especially when cars must be parked head-in as required by village law. Trustee Kelly agreed that the angled parking spaces should be restriped.

“It’s crazy that it’s angled that way and you can’t go out the way you are facing when you leave the space,” Kelly said. Commissioner Jackson noted that these spaces were made for when the cut-through to the other exit was active, but it’s no longer useful.

Borroni recommended that the Commission permit Public Works to come up with a plan for revising that set of spaces and the Commission agreed to this program.

In this week’s issue we feature our annual Sports Wrapup section, which is a salute to our hometown athletes. We hope you enjoy seeing all of the team photos and thanks to those who contributed material for the issue.

While working on this year’s section, we reviewed several issues from prior years. As those were the Covid years, sports schedules were very abbreviated. We didn’t even run the section in 2020.

We are thankful that things are largely back to normal and that the kids can enjoy their sports teams again.

As we head into the Fourth of July holiday week, please keep in mind the warnings of the Garden City Fire Department about the dangers of fireworks.

Every year people are seriously injured when they ignite fireworks and something goes wrong. It’s not worth a lifetime of pain - leave the fireworks to the professionals.

The Garden City News’ office will be closed on Tuesday, July 4th so our staff can enjoy the day with their families.

If you would like to place a classified ad the deadline is Monday at noon for the holiday week. All other deadlines are normal (Wednesday at noon for display advertising and news material.)

Do you have a service to advertise?

Our Service Directory is sure to bring results. Call 294-8900 for rates and information.