Mayor: Streetscape project will offer 'complete remake' of some Westbury roads

Westbury officials are using county funding for an estimated $7 million streetscaping project that will bring new sidewalks, trees and other enhancements to two main roads — improvements residents said are long overdue.

Construction began last month and consists of a “complete remake” of Maple and Union avenues, east of Post Avenue to Brush Hollow Road, that will include repaving Maple Avenue, according to Westbury Mayor Peter Cavallaro.

The scope of the project also includes new and enhanced crosswalks, “traffic calming measures” and bike racks along the roads.

The stretch of Union Avenue is filled with delis, auto body shops and other small businesses, while Maple Avenue includes more residential properties and a firehouse. 

“The project will enhance motorist and pedestrian safety and upgrade infrastructure that hasn’t been addressed for many decades,” Cavallaro said in a statement. 

Nassau County Legis. Siela Bynoe (D-Westbury) said the county made up to $10.5 million available from its capital plan for the streetscape project.

“It's important for the safety of pedestrians and drivers alike,” she said Wednesday.

Officials estimated the project will take from 12 to 15 months. In March, Westbury's village board awarded a contract to Ridge-based Laser Industries for about $5.3 million of work on the project.

Maria Santiago, whose business Home Health Aide Training Institute is on Post Avenue, said the road improvements are the “best thing Westbury can do” for the area.

Longtime Westbury resident Reynolds Zelaya, 53, said Union and Maple avenues have been neglected for some time and he would welcome improvements that brought “a more community friendly, aesthetic appeal” to the area.

Zelaya, who is active in community groups, pointed in particular to a portion of Union Avenue that is near Westbury’s Long Island Rail Road station.

“There’s a lot of commuters that pass there and that has a more industrial feel,” he said.

The mayor said the project is a “natural extension” of Post Avenue area improvements completed last year with funding from a 2016 downtown revitalization state grant. 

That $10 million grant went toward upgrades that included a pedestrian plaza at Post and Union avenues and street improvements along Post Avenue, including new trees, lighting and expanded sidewalks. That initiative also included rezoning downtown for mixed use buildings.