Grand Blvd. to Go Under the Knife

Grand Boulevard is penciled in for a facelift after the City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a contract to reconstruct a section of the roadway, as well as to correct drainage problems on another city street.

The Melville-based RBA Group-New York was selected among seven bidders for the project that would include roadbed resurfacing, curb and sidewalk reconstruction and landscape upgrades on Grand between West Park Avenue and West Beech Street. The contract is for design and engineering purposes and is the first step in rehabilitation the street, said City Manager Jack Schnriman.

The June 18 resolution for the project listed the cost at $37,000, but during Tuesday’s meeting Jim LaCarrubba, the city’s commissioner of public works, asked to increase the amount to $45,000 in order to include designs for drain repairs at National Boulevard south of West Walnut Street.  

“It will cover the drainage issues that are occurring on Beech as well as Olive [Street], which floods normally; not even with heavy rain,” LaCarrubba told the council members, except Len Torres, who was absent. “There’s an issue there with the drainage system. We want to get that resolved.”

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LaCarrubba said that while the design for drains at National is separate from the Grand Boulevard project, it would be included in one RFP [request for proposal].

The funding for these projects would come from the city’s capital improvement program. “We’re going to use New York State Department of Transportation CHIPS funds to pay for this capital project,” LaCarrubba said.

The City Council on May 21 approved a $7.7 million capital improvement plan, a five-year program to maintain and improve the city’s infrastructure.

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