Now that Lennar has stepped away from purchasing the defunct Turtle Bay Golf Course, (see March 4 posting below) ,I urge Century Village to consider adding a sidewalk on the north side of Century Boulevard.
The pluses:
1. The sidewalk will extend only from Haverhill to the guardhouse, one-third the distance from Haverhill to the East Drive-CV Boulevard intersection. Just as at the Okeechobee Boulevard entrance, an automated gate will allow pedestrian passage. Pedestrians can then, as they do now, utilize Ascot Road.
2. Pedestrians will not have to cross at the mailbox (LCAM Report: 2/4/19. “A double row of hedges, bordering a median crosswalk behind Haverhill guardhouse, will be removed- Increased pedestrian traffic at this crosswalk made this hedge removal necessary. An LED lighting fixture will also be added to this crosswalk.”) or at the main intersection.
3. When pedestrians reach Haverhill, they can press the signal control button that the county has obligingly placed on both sides of the northern side of the CV Boulevard/Haverhill crossing.
4. There are no obstacles: no trees; light poles are flush against Ascot Fence. Just a swath of open, flat grass. The south side has four trees and three light poles to the guard house alone, and many more of each from the guardhouse to the the East Drive intersection.
5. Century Village owns the land on the south side: no need to dance with Waldman, or any subsequent golf course property owner, whose winding property line, and often overhanging vegetation, comes right to the edge of the present (south side) sidewalk.
6. (Probable). When and if Charles Scardina builds his apartment complex just south of the synagogue, (to say nothing of what might eventually be built on the golf course) more traffic congestion will occur. The more that pedestrians can cross Haverhill on the north side, the less potential for accidents.
Richard Handelsman
Plymouth
Sensible proposal. Sic transit gloria hibiscus :-(
ReplyDeleteOld Nassau '67 has offered this solution to the pedestrian problem along Century Boulevard before. It makes sense to me. I need to drive up and down Ascot Road, though, to have a good sense of what a pedestrian encounters there.
ReplyDeleteOne question remains, however: WHAT ABOUT THE NEED FOR A BARRIER BETWEEN MR. WALDMAN'S PROPERTY AND OURS along the south side of Century Boulevard? Pedestrian safety is one concern. Not making it look too easy—especially at regular access points—for undesirables to get into the Village is the other.
Am I overlooking something in thinking that we would still have the "wall" problem if we fix the pedestrian access problem by shifting pedestrian access to the north side of Century Boulevard? Is Old Nassau saying that yes, we still need a barrier (fence or wall), but it then could be built on what is clearly our land (nearer Century Boulevard) without the need for squeezing in a sidewalk? If so, could you elaborate on what you would do on the south side—build a wall or a fence, and if you could save money doing it?
Mr. Howe: Thank you for your insightful reading and queries.
Delete1. I wrote "adding" (a sidewalk) to emphasize that I propose an addition to, not a substitute for or a replacement of, the expansion and securing of the south-side walkway. As with the Okeechobee entrance/exit, walkways would be on both sides of the pavement, with gates monitored by security personnel. Additional $$ would have to allocated for this project, but for the several reasons listed below (and above), I believe the money wold be well spent.
2. Yes, a barrier, as well as a widened (as mandated by both county code as well as increased foot traffic) sidewalk, will need be erected between the golf course and CV's properties. Two complexifiers: (a) "Property line is right at sidewalk edge, more or less." (email from LCAM); (b) from Haverhill to gatehouse: 3 light poles and five trees between sidewalk and pavement will have to be moved or circumvented (plus many more of each from gatehouse to CV Blvd/East Drive intersection). A short northside pedway, from Haverhill to the gatehouse only, avoids these obstacles.
3. About “driving up and down Ascot Road.” Please remember that many pedestrians and congregants from the north quadrant already walk from East Drive up Ascot, then cross CV Blvd at the mailbox. My proposed sidewalk would lessen not only this risky crossing (see #2 above), but also the danger created by drivers ignoring the two “No Right Turn on Red” signs at Haverhill Road.
4. A chain link fence already runs from the wall at Haverhill to the gatehouse. Given that, as far as I know, no undesirable has ever clambered over it, this fence provides a (al)ready-made barrier for a northside sidewalk.
5. I cannot “elaborate on what (I) would do on the south side” because, as Lennar said, “Century Village will need to discuss (its)fencing concerns directly with the Waldman’s.” and I cannot predict what the interactions among Century Village (both financial and aesthetic), Mr. Waldman (or a successor), and the county's zoning and engineering regulations will produce.
Richard Handelsman