Brookhaven Reveals Final Plans for Sound Beach Traffic Project

Brookhaven officials unveiled the final plans for a traffic-calming, pedestrian safety project along New York Avenue in Sound Beach at the local civic association’s meeting Monday night.

Sidewalks, center medians and crosswalks are all part of the final plans for a project meant to literally calm traffic along the roadway that runs through the center of town, a common site of speeding.

Brian Lenz of the town traffic and safety department said at the meeting the finished plans considered suggestions previously brought by local residents, such as parking concerns and issues with medians.

Specifically, the final project blueprints call for new sidewalks, including a new curb, new striping and new drainage structure, along the north side of New York Avenue from St. Louis de Montfort Church to Groveland Park Boulevard. Engineer Steve Normandin said new sidewalks on the north and south side of New York Avenue from Groveland Park Boulevard to the Hartlin Inn could curb speeding on that part of the roadway.

“At that point, the road gets very expansive and very conducive to speeding,” he said, adding sidewalks will narrow the roadway, making speeding more difficult and giving pedestrians a safer place to walk.

The town will also add a median in the center of the road to the east of Tyler Avenue, but Normandin said the final plans call for a shorter divider since residents objected to the idea of a center median.

After much concern from local businesses in the downtown area about losing already limited parking, Normandin said the parking structure of the area won’t be changed with the new plans, though he did say the area will lose two spots along the road that should have been no-parking zones already.

The town removed roadway changes that required the acquisition of private property from the final plans because of state holdups. Lenz said Brookhaven will finish that part of the project after the bulk of the plan is completed.

The town is using a grant from New York State to fund the local traffic-calming project. The plans have been in the works for about six years.

Residents at the meeting voiced concerns about on-road parking in front of the lot to the east of Sound Beach Boulevard. Lenz said that area will remain open, though parking there has always been illegal because it’s too close to the corner.

Civic association president Bill Pellenz said he was happy with the final drawings and glad the town listened to residents’ suggestions.

“It’s so nice to be able to talk to the people that are doing the project and have them listen,” he said.

Residents, for the most part, were pleased with the final plans.

“I just hope it works,” one resident said.

The town plans to break ground on the project in May, after bidding out the job to a contractor in February, and hopes to be finished with the job by September.