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Monsey, NY - Town Aims to Ease Maple Ave. Congestion |
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Traffic and pedestrians travel Maple Avenue on Friday near the intersection of Route 306 in Monsey. A section of Maple is closed for ongoing construction. (Vincent DiSalvio/The Journal News)
Known around Town Hall as the Maple Avenue Reconstruction Project, the plan aims to address traffic congestion, and at times competition, between drivers and pedestrians.
The area, because of its largely ultra-Orthodox Jewish population, is by its nature a walking community. People walk to local yeshivas and synagogues. They walk to shops along routes 306 and 59.
A traffic survey referred to by planners of the project showed that 1,766 motor vehicles passed through the Maple Avenue-Route 306 area every hour during the morning and evening peak travel times.
"We want to improve the traffic flow, to provide better access for people walking, to increase the safety of the area," said Anthony Sharan, Ramapo's superintendent of highways.
A nearly $4 million project that began in August, will get 9,600 feet of sidewalks, plus a rebuilt roadway. New traffic signals at both intersections are part of the project, as well as numerous turn lanes intended to keep traffic moving.
Sharan said Ramapo aims to complete most of the project between the fall and early winter.
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Read Comments (14) — Post Yours »
1
Oct 05, 2008 at 12:31 PM Use Your Head Says:
The more accurate title for this story would be:
"St. Lawrence Kisses Up to His Key Constituents As Usual"
2
Oct 05, 2008 at 02:28 PM Moyshe Zichemch Says:
call it what you want the bottom line is that the local Jewish population got him into office and keep him in office. The fact also remains that Maple/306 is one of the busiest intersections on Rockland County. Take a drive down on a Friday afternoon and it's worse than Lee Ave or !3th Ave. It's Manahattan. Nuttin wrong with a town supervisor widening a congested street.
3
Oct 05, 2008 at 02:59 PM anonymous Says:
"Nuttin wrong with a town supervisor widening a congested street."
..unless you actually want to reduce congestion. It's been pretty much established for decades now that more road capacity = more traffic. Unfortunately, the auto-holic citizens and the politicians who pander to them are years behind the science. Please don't be one of them.
4
Oct 05, 2008 at 02:52 PM Use Your Head Says:
Yes Moyshe, indeed the local Jewish population - specifically the chassidish elements - got him into office and kept him there. Which makes perfect sense, because St. Lawrence is a completely corrupt individual who works in perfect harmony with the chassidish developers who keep him in their good graces through various "incentives". He is basically a puppet to the chassidish community and therefore they can get away with things that would never pass for others in Rockland.
You are also right that Maple/306 is one of the busiest intersections in Rockland County - which is no surprise given the hundreds of high-density apartments built along Route 306 and elsewhere in Ramapo in and around Kaser. The chassidish community got the zoning changed to fit their needs, and when you overbuild by changing zoning, you will of course get ridiculous traffic. Not to mention the fact that other resources such as water and sewer are being heavily stretched to the limit by the high population density that the chassidim have imposed upon the community.
I have nothing against the chassidim, I know many of them are wonderful people. But why must they bring negative attention upon themselves by refusing to play by the rules? Would the Baal Shem have approved of bending the rules to benefit yourself at the expense of the rest of the community?
5
Oct 05, 2008 at 03:05 PM fed up with ultra-orthodox overpopulation Says:
“ call it what you want the bottom line is that the local Jewish population got him into office and keep him in office. The fact also remains that Maple/306 is one of the busiest intersections on Rockland County. Take a drive down on a Friday afternoon and it's worse than Lee Ave or !3th Ave. It's Manahattan. Nuttin wrong with a town supervisor widening a congested street. ”
why don't we start with following legal zoning laws and not build multi family houses against zoning code and then later change the zoning. oh, I'm sorry, they did that already by creating the town of kaser with make believe permissible zoning codes.
if you stop half of burrough park from moving into monsey, you wouldn't have these traffic problems. They didn't exist 15 years ago.
6
Oct 05, 2008 at 03:16 PM Anonymous Says:
I moved to Wesley hills and never come into Monsey any longer- its not worth the traffic. St. Lawrence is responsible for everyone on main st. losing my business and everyone else who lives outside main Monsey. Monsey no longer appeals to me, as it has been taken over by greedy developers- all chassidim. Find me a multi-family developement that doesn't have trash everywhere (except the brand new ones, give them a chance to get complacent.) All of you responsible stay far away from my neighborhood!
7
Oct 05, 2008 at 07:55 PM Anonymous Says:
The multi-family houses are here to stay. The congestion is terrible, soon at least the traffic congestion will get better.
8
Oct 05, 2008 at 09:32 PM Anonymous Says:
“ I moved to Wesley hills and never come into Monsey any longer- its not worth the traffic. St. Lawrence is responsible for everyone on main st. losing my business and everyone else who lives outside main Monsey. Monsey no longer appeals to me, as it has been taken over by greedy developers- all chassidim. Find me a multi-family developement that doesn't have trash everywhere (except the brand new ones, give them a chance to get complacent.) All of you responsible stay far away from my neighborhood! ”
it's unbelievable that you spew such hatred mere days before yom kipur.
9
Oct 06, 2008 at 12:43 AM A yid Says:
“ I moved to Wesley hills and never come into Monsey any longer- its not worth the traffic. St. Lawrence is responsible for everyone on main st. losing my business and everyone else who lives outside main Monsey. Monsey no longer appeals to me, as it has been taken over by greedy developers- all chassidim. Find me a multi-family developement that doesn't have trash everywhere (except the brand new ones, give them a chance to get complacent.) All of you responsible stay far away from my neighborhood! ”
Stay in welsly hills, and shame on you for thinking the way you do.
10
Oct 06, 2008 at 12:41 AM Anonymous Says:
“ I moved to Wesley hills and never come into Monsey any longer- its not worth the traffic. St. Lawrence is responsible for everyone on main st. losing my business and everyone else who lives outside main Monsey. Monsey no longer appeals to me, as it has been taken over by greedy developers- all chassidim. Find me a multi-family developement that doesn't have trash everywhere (except the brand new ones, give them a chance to get complacent.) All of you responsible stay far away from my neighborhood! ”
How long ago was your house in Wesley Hills built? How much land do you have and was zoning changed before your house was built? For all you people complaining, please keep in mind zoning was changed in Concord, Wesley Hills, New Hempstead and most other areas before those houses were built. Some of these areas needed one - two acreas to build and the zoning was changed to as little as three quarters of an acre in some situations. If not for zoning changes, there's a good chance your house would not be there right now.
If the people living there want zoning changes, they could do what they want, that's a democracy. I personally like more land, so I live in New Hempstead where I have almost an acre of land, but I'm not stopping other people from doing what they want. I'm not interested in the monsey traffic, so I stay away from those areas, especially on Fridays, but if someone wants to live there, leave them alone.
When your children want to buy a house in the Monsey area, will you let them buy a property that was once re-zoned. Will you tell them they can't buy in Forshay because it used to be zoned as an orchard, or Mariner Way because it was also just re-zoned, or any of the other areas that were re-zoned in the last 30-40 years. Is it OK for you and your family to live in re-zoned areas, but not other families who may be hasidic?
11
Oct 06, 2008 at 09:55 AM Preserve Ramapo Now! Says:
Idiot in New Hempstead. Do you realize how close your village came to being down zoned? Your wonderful trustee Itamar Yeager was all set to downzone New Hempstead to multi family so the developers could come in to your village. It didn't happen because lucky for you he couldn't get the votes on the Village Board for a downzone.
12
Oct 07, 2008 at 12:37 AM Anonymous Says:
“ Idiot in New Hempstead. Do you realize how close your village came to being down zoned? Your wonderful trustee Itamar Yeager was all set to downzone New Hempstead to multi family so the developers could come in to your village. It didn't happen because lucky for you he couldn't get the votes on the Village Board for a downzone. ”
My fellow Ramapo resident, please refrain from calling names. Aside for calling me an idiot, I've met Mr. Yaeger quite a few times and I think he's a very hardworking and honest guy.
As far as I know, the entire New Hempstead was not going to be re-zoned, rather 10-15 acreas. I personally would not want re-zoning right next door to me, but if that happens I won't complain. Usually when areas are re-zoned prices go up, and I'll move to Pomona near 202 where it will take a long time for that area to be re-zoned. The point is, whether I like it or not, in a democracy the majority rules. If most of my neighbors want my area to be re-zoned then I have no right to stop them. If the people living in the main part of Monsey want their area to be re-zoned, who are we to stop them.
By the way, what part of Ramapo do you live in, and was your area ever re-zoned?
13
Oct 07, 2008 at 07:10 AM Preserve Ramapo Now! Says:
No. 12, you don't know what you are talking about. He wanted to downzone the entire village, but the others on the board wouldn't let him. I live in Pomona, by the way and I hope they don't ruin our neighborhood. Have you driven on 306 lately? UGLY!
14
Oct 07, 2008 at 08:50 PM Anonymous Says:
“ No. 12, you don't know what you are talking about. He wanted to downzone the entire village, but the others on the board wouldn't let him. I live in Pomona, by the way and I hope they don't ruin our neighborhood. Have you driven on 306 lately? UGLY! ”
Hi again,
I never heard anything of downzoning the entire village, I only heard of one specific area (which I'd rather be houses and not a school, at least we'll have taxes).
I'll be away for Yom Kippur and I won't be able to check this site for the next few days. Have a good Yom Tov and may we all be blessed with a good year and to get along with each other.
Who knows, we may be neighbors in Pomona in the future.