In Great Neck Plaza for Smart Growth Saturday Mayor Jean Celender began with a presentation about completed pedestrian safety projects and future development before hitting the streets. While in the field, the group witnessed safety improvements like bulb-outs, crosswalk improvements and a roundabout. They also noticed how a number of restaurants took advantage of the extra sidewalk space to add additional outdoor dining. And although there wasnt time to visit Great Neck Road which had undergone a road diet, Celender discussed the somewhat counter-intuitive benefits of removing travel lanes on a roadway. The group also visited future sites for a LaunchPad business incubator and four-story mixed-use building on Grace Avenue, as well as the site of a future road safety project between the Barstow Road roundabout and the Post Office. They observed placemaking improvements around the village, like a trompe loeil - optical illusion - mural and a mosaic mural next to the train station, a shelter for sidewalk benches, brick sidewalks and abundant flower baskets and landscaping that helps to enhance the historic character of many of the 1920s downtown buildings. I was thrilled to have the Village of Great Neck Plaza included in this years group of highlighted communities. Here in the Plaza, we have instituted several different smart growth measures for the benefit of our residents; traffic calming projects to improve safety and mobility for pedestrians, bicyclists and people of all ages and abilities in our downtown and mixed-use developments to retain our youth through more affordable housing options. Not only do smart growth projects improve the quality of life in the community, they help local businesses thrive. More mixed-use developments and traffic calming initiatives means more people staying in our towns, walking in the downtown business district, and spending money locally in our retail establishments. Once again, I want to thank Eric and the staff at Vision Long Island for allowing me to be a part of this great cause. I encourage all municipalities to participate in Smart Growth Saturdays, Celender said.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 22:23:47 +0000
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