The DDC, in conjunction with the Department of Environmental Protection, is working to finish a sewer replacement project on City Island.
An embargo on all construction, even minor alterations, was put in place from Memorial Day to Labor Day, so traffic cannot be disrupted during the peak season for visits to the Island’s many restaurants and tourist venues.
The installation of new curb cuts and sidewalks was halted at the corner of Pilot Street and City Island Avenue. In the immediate vicinity of the corner is a popular restaurant, a busy church, a home servicing the handicapped, and a 131-unit senior citizen residence.
“There was a progress meeting on City Island, with the DDC, when a concern was raised by Lido’s Restaurant’s about their curb,” said CB 10 district manager Ken Kearns, “DDC stated that [the curb cuts] could be completed in four weeks.”
In a resolution passed unanimously at the May 15, CB 10 general monthly meeting, the board voted to ask DDC and DEP to lift the embargo for four weeks in the summer so work on the curbs and curb cuts could be complete sooner.
Both residents and merchants feel that the new curbs will not only enhance the aesthetic appeal of the intersection, but also make it safer.
“There is a high accident factor on the four corners of Pilot Street and City Island Avenue,” said Virginia Gallagher, CB 10 chairwoman and a resident of Pilot Cove Manor, near where the curb cut installation is stalled. “There is no [new] curb cut on the corners of Pilot Street, and no curb on the one side of the street [near Pilot Cove Manor].”
Gallagher confirmed that it might be in the best interests of the many elderly and frail people in the vicinity to have the new tactile curbs completed as soon as possible.
“We don’t want to see anyone get hurt,” Gallagher added.
Gallagher said neither she nor the board has heard anything from DDC or DEC regarding their advisory request.
A DDC spokesman declined to comment on this matter. DEC also declined comment as of press time.
