(The following is an open letter to the greater Roslyn community regarding Round Hill/Roslyn Road regrading and redesigning.)

Ten years ago (1993/1994) Nassau County presented plans to this community to correct a road condition that had existed for decades. With a burgeoning population, the single car garage community has faded into the collective conscience of a '50s memory and vehicular traffic dramatically jumped by the '80s and '90s.

The plan was to realign three arteries - Warner, Lincoln and Round Hill Roads. In so doing, trees would be removed, the roadbed widened, and the resulting realignment of the three roads would create a main thoroughfare originating at Glen Cove Road and ending by Mineola Avenue (aka Willis Avenue to the uninitiated).

In order to move forward on these plans, which had been on the drafting board of the Department of Public Works (DPW) for some time, they needed to have a public hearing. When presented, the plan proved to be unacceptable to residents, who rightfully feared that the resultant roadway would become a "speedway." Objection was vehement, and once again the greater Roslyn area banded together in protest. The Town of North Hempstead foreseeing the financial difficulties which were to plague the county in coming years, agreed to accept transference of ownership of Warner/Lincoln Roads after the county completed the projected repairs. The Roslyn/Round Hill Road segment was left dangling in a netherworld.

Years passed, as this project lay dormant on the shelves of the County DPW while the winds of change brewed in Nassau County. The county subsequently underwent a major governmental reorganization; shedding its selective and exclusionary five member Supervisory Board to an elective county legislature. Meanwhile, (as the plot thickens) meetings were quietly being conducted with our then Legislator Barbara Johnson, (of blessed memory), and Tom Gulotta, County Executive. The final thrust and parry in this lengthy and drawn out scenario was the ousting of Mr. Gulotta after the county fell into near bankruptcy with a $300 million plus deficit. Under the leadership of the newly elected County Executive, Tom Suozzi, the project was revisited. However, another glitch arose, the DPW was only addressing Warner/Lincoln Avenue omitting the Round Hill/ Roslyn Road sections. With the cast of characters continually changing it was a near impossibility to nail down any one official and enforce an ownership factor of the project, even though it has always remained in the domain of the DPW.

Unfortunately, in addition to the external tribulations facing this project we were confronted by some dissension in the ranks of the village community who worked against our bringing this project to fruition. Through sometimes tiresome and repetitive negotiations I was able to keep this segment alive. Arriving home in August from my infamous European adventures on a late Friday evening, I was more than delighted to have found a call on my answering machine from Donna Boyle, Project Coordinator/Engineer informing me that the plans for Round Hill/Roslyn Roads had been reinstated, thanks to the sensitive, timely and effectual intervention of our county legislator, Craig Johnson.

What started out as a semi-amateur design on a teaching blackboard in the living room of my home; with civic leaders from the greater Roslyn community - Linda Nathanson, (Deputy Mayor of East Hills), Ernie Bubeck, Elaine Cirlin, Bill Costigan, Diane Lipari, Carmen Krauss, Judy Pace, Tom Seligman and George Baker (both of whom are certified engineers) driving Lego and Matchbox cars, trucks and buses around the board, will now be realized. It calls for the realignment not only of Warner/Lincoln Avenues but the regrading and redesigning of the nightmarish Round Hill/Roslyn Road intersection. The newly designed intersection will have a traffic light with appropriate turning lanes and signals installed. My understanding is that the signal engineers have begun their work on coordinating the lights of Lincoln/Roslyn Road with the newly projected light at Round Hill/Roslyn Road. The projected commencement date will be sometime next year 2004. We can anticipate some disruption to the normal flow of traffic up until the date of completion. The timing of "de-" and "re-" construction will be coordinated with the schools and the involved communities of Roslyn and East Hills.

I want to thank those who worked so arduously alongside of me. The support of my village, East Hills goes without saying. Our mayor, Michael Koblenz and our former mayor, Larry Aronson endorsed our goals wholeheartedly, giving us not only the much needed verbal support but placed the full strength of the villages' political machine behind our words. Thanks also go to the former mayor of the Village of Roslyn, Janet Galante and to the current mayor, John Durkin for their unfailing backup.

Standing right alongside us, every step of the way has been the Roslyn School system through the direct involvement of Barry Edelson, Director of Community Affairs, Dr. Frank Tassone, Superintendent of Schools and through the kind assistance of the CCPA, under its past presidents and at the most recent time of presentation - March 2003 presidents Kim Floam and Hope Hassouni.

My sole concern has been and always will be the safety of our entire community and I am very proud to say that this development will go down in the annals of Roslyn/East Hills history as another step towards a pilgrims' progress.

Judi Winters