Community Corner

Village Police Beef Up Traffic Patrols Around LIPA Work

LIPA provides additional detour signs on Old Country Road.

Since emergency work on Washington Avenue began earlier this month to enable Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) crews to replace a major underground electrical cable, beefed up traffic patrols in the immediate area have resulted in several traffic tickets, two arrests and three impounds.

Police have received reports of increased traffic on Lefferts Road but no accidents have been reported. "At our request LIPA has placed additional detour signs on Old Country Road," Garden City Police Inspector Kenneth Jackson told Patch.

A traffic detour cuts through the Nassau County courts, at the insistence of the Garden City Police Department.

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On Nov. 22, during the evening rush, a female 36-year-old from Huntington working as a flag persn on County Seat Drive - diverting traffic away from the Washington Avenue construction - was struck by a small maroon auto that had just exited a parking field.

"The vehicle did not stop and left the scene northbound on County Seat Drive," Inspector Jackson reports. "She suffered a leg injury and was transported to Winthrop Hospital."

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According to Vanessa Baird-Streeter, LIPA's executive director of communications, the authority has received one letter from a customer complaining about the project so far.

"LIPA has worked closely with the village and county to direct traffic around the impacted area onto County Seat Drive," she told Patch Tuesday. "Village police have stepped up patrols throughout ... We also placed door knockers on every home from Mulberry to Kingsbury east to Lefferts advising of the emergency nature of the work. We mailed letters and left outbound messages to customers and canvassed door-to-door along the project route."

Baird-Streeter said LIPA is looking to complete the project, expected to last six to nine weeks, as quickly as possible.

The work, which necessitated the closure of Washington Avenue between Eleventh Street and Supreme Court Drive, began Nov. 17. Village officials were first informed of the construction project Nov. 15.

According to an updated alert on Garden City's website: "night security personnel from LIPA are at the site from 7 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Residents who have driveways on Washington Avenue can park on the side streets. Once the subsurface facilities are exposed, crews will begin making the necessary repairs and the initial noise of the project will abate. In order to mitigate the use of generators there will be three temporary solar-powered dusk-to-dawn lights. These lights will be directed away from all homes. Additionally, there will be no loss of power to homes as a result of the project."

Call the Department of Public Works at 465-4004 for more information. To file a complaint, contact Tracy Burgess-Levy at LIPA at tburgess-levy@lipower.org or 516-719-9864.


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