I couldn’t agree more with Matt Ruzz’s letter (“GN Plaza must lead to fix dangerous crossing, June 3) regarding the offset intersection of Park Place and Grace Avenue.
Vehicles exiting Park Place from the north must deal with severely limited visibility in both directions on Grace Avenue. Just when one thinks that it’s safe to turn, a pedestrian enters the crosswalk. A vehicle that appears to be turning onto Grace Avenue from the south is really trying to cross over.
I have had more than one close call at this location, and have witnessed an accident in which a driver was cut off exiting Park Place from the south and damaged three parked cars.
Fortunately, there may be a solution at hand, but it depends on the Plaza officials engaging their counterparts at the county.
The village is planning to reconfigure the Grace Avenue parking lot to accommodate muni-meters. I am urging them to consider moving the exit from the parking lot from Park Place to Grace Avenue, directly across from the outlet of Park Place at the Chase Bank. A traffic signal can allow vehicles to exit the lot, then Park Place. If timed appropriately, the signal would have the additional benefit of slowing westbound, downhill traffic on Grace Avenue as it approaches the equally problematic Bond Street intersection.
The stop line for westbound traffic on Grace Avenue would be at Park Place, providing a safe transit for pedestrians in a relocated crosswalk. If Park Place traffic were to be reversed southbound, there would be no turns from Grace Avenue onto any side streets, and no cause for complicating traffic flow on Grace Avenue.
I wholeheartedly agree that our mayor and board of trustees owe it to the residents of Great Neck Plaza to establish a more productive working relationship with the County. The issues of vehicular and pedestrian safety should not be compromised by some sort of “not my job” turf attitude. It is simply unrealistic on the ground.
Terry Eckstein
Great Neck
