Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi and North Hempstead supervisor Jon Kaiman hosted an open community meeting at Ben's Delicatessen in Wheatley Plaza, Greenvale on Monday, Feb. 9.

The officials met with residents of the area to present and discuss Nassau County's Glen Cove Road and Northern Boulevard Intersection Improvement Project. The project is designed to explore possible solutions to ease the traffic flow in what is the county's most highly trafficked north/south intersection. More than 50 residents filled the back room of Ben's, right on the corner.

"This intersection is miserable...just miserable," said Mr. Suozzi, shaking his head, "and it has been for years."

The domino effect that occurs involves cars being backed up, having to wait, on average, through three light cycles before getting through the intersection. That then encourages frustrated drivers to continue through the intersection past the time the light has changed to red and to inch up as close to the intersection as they can, thus blocking smaller side street intersections, preventing entry to and egress from Glen Cove Road. Additionally, motorists frequently cut through the residential areas, often driving down small lanes as fast as they would on Glen Cove Road.

Daily, 50,000 vehicles cross the intersection, going north/south on Glen Cove Road. According to Mr. Suozzi, at the intersection of Glen Cove Road and Old Country Road, 30,000 vehicles cross north/south. When you add in the east/west traffic, the Old Country Road intersection more than doubles to100,000 whereas adding east/west traffic on Northern Boulevard brings that total to 70,000 vehicles.

"We want to improve the traffic flow and make this area safer for local residents, motorists and pedestrians," said Mr. Suozzi. He promised the residents that he will solicit community input every step of the way through the program and keep everyone involved in the process.

The county executive presented a three-phase plan, with Phase one planned for a start this spring, and finish by the end of the year; Phase two could be initiated in 2005, and Mr. Suozzi is still working on Phase three, hoping perhaps to combine it with Phase one, calling it Phase 1-3.

The entire project involves widening Glen Cove Road. The proposed Phase one would begin on the northwest side of the intersection. Heading south on Glen Cove Road, two right turn lanes onto Northern Boulevard would be added as well as a longer approach lane in the left, to allow the street to qualify for a left-turn lane.

Phase two would involve the southwest side of Northern Boulevard, heading south on Glen Cove Road. Mr. Suozzi sees three lanes, gradually merging back into two.

Phase three is a more involved, and to the county executive's thinking, the preferred solution. In the last phases, turn lanes built in Phase one will be extended north to the Barefoot Peddler, sidewalks will be redesigned and parking lots moved behind buildings. As the new parking lot will border a residential street, a buffer zone and a decorative wall planted with evergreens would make the periphery of the residential area an attractive alternative to looking at parking lots or, as Mr. Suozzi pointed out, "the Blockbuster sign."

When asked about funding, the county executive said that $1 million had been slated for the project until just that day, when the Nassau County Legislature was voting down the capital plan. The funding is there, but it will take more work.

Different solutions have been discussed to fix this problem for more than 10 years, with no concrete results. County Executive Suozzi, with the input and support of engineers, area business owners and local residents, many of whom he knew by name at the meeting, wants to see this project completed and the problem it causes alleviated as soon as possible.

Supervisor Jon Kaiman agreed, saying, "The Town of North Hempstead is committed to working with the County Executive to improve this intersection for the benefit of the residents as well as the safety of the motorists."

Residents brought up varied complaints about the area, such as it not being pedestrian-friendly, asking the county executive what he can do about that. Mr. Suozzi said he believes the first step is to make the area less of a traffic nightmare; that alone will help it begin to be friendlier to pedestrians. He called the project a classic case of involving different interests: drivers vs. walkers, businesspersons vs. residents, residential blocks vs. drive- throughs.

When residents asked about disruption, they were told that construction would be done at night, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. and would not be noisy. They were told it is not a big, difficult construction job. Asked if this is a long term fix, Mr. Suozzi had an opportunity to speak about his ultimate long term plan, that of improving the mass transit system in Nassau County, the first mature suburb in America, so that in time, people can leave their cars at home when they go to work.

Mr. Suozzi left the meeting to a round of applause, prompted by a gentleman who said, "I give you a lot of credit. This has been a problem for a long time and you are the first county executive to come down and address it and address us."