North Hempstead Councilman Pollack has proposed that a stop sign be installed to control southbound traffic on Bayview Avenue. Along with that proposal is also the proposal to disallow any entry into Maple Street for southbound traffic on Bayview Avenue. (The proposal says no left turn for southbound traffic on Bayview.)

This is a near-sighted and not-fully explored proposal.

1. Why a stop sign? The major southbound traffic movement to the intersection is southbound on Bayview Avenue to the intersection of Bayview and Maple, thence westbound, still on Bayview to East Shore Road. The minor traffic flow is to go southbound at this intersection on Maple Street to Northern Blvd. or in the northbound direction, eastbound on the short section of Bayview from East Shore Road and northbound on Bayview Avenue.

The flow of traffic for all major movements seems to be self-regulating. There is no need for a stop sign at this time.

2. The proposal to disallow any entry of southbound Bayview Ave. traffic onto southbound Maple Place lacks warrants for this prohibition because of the major and minor flows described above. Although there is a short delay for southbound vehicles on Bayview Ave. to turn southbound into Maple St., this is the minor traffic volume and the delays appear to be tolerated by the traffic. If it were desirable to lessen the minor delays suffered by the vehicles traveling southbound on Bayview Avenue onto Maple Street, (and also limit any vehicle conflicts at the intersection,) a traffic signal may be warranted and would be the better choice of control since all traffic could be accommodated without prohibition.

3. The proposed no left turn for south bound traffic at the Maple Street intersection will essentially accomplish two adverse results:

(a) Maple Street will effectively become a one-way, northbound road since little southbound traffic on East Shore Road make the trip to Northern Blvd. via Maple Street, finding it more convenient to deal with the well-controlled signalized intersection of Community Drive/Northern Blvd. intersection.

(b) The section of Bayview Avenue from West Shore Rd. to Maple Street is very short, about 395 feet long, a very short storage area for vehicles stopped on Bayview Ave. at the signal at East Shore Rd. during peak traffic. Any additional traffic added to this short section because of the proposed no left turn ordinance will cause a queue that will back up from East Shore Rd. to beyond the Maple Street intersection and cause unwanted congestion. This short storage area is already strained at peak hours.

I truly wonder how much thought this proposal was given and what is the real purpose for it?

I also cannot believe that the 6th Precinct of the N.C. Police Department would endorse it wholeheartedly.

What are the directional traffic counts at the intersection and are they available? Has a traffic engineer been involved in the proposal?

What is the accident history at the location?

Until all these questions are addressed and a more thorough traffic study completed, it is premature to consider and act upon this proposed ordinance that will affect so many drivers and benefit so few.

Felix G. Andrews, P.E.