East Irvington neighborhood split about proposed project to build sidewalks
Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner says this is in an effort to make it safer for pedestrians.
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Some residents in an East Irvington neighborhood are split about a proposed project to build sidewalks on Taxter Road.
"Taxter Road is not a friendly walking road. It just isn't," says resident Gregory Maugeri.
"People want to walk their kids to the playground and walk safely there," says resident Cindy Collins.
Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner says this is in an effort to make it safer for pedestrians.
But some residents are concerned and say they don't know if it will improve safety, especially since the road is already narrow and full of curves.
"I'm not necessarily opposed," says resident Jason Cohen. "These sidewalks can actually enhance people speeding. They actually give a false sense of security when the road itself, as you can see here, has some challenges just naturally."
Some say they want to see a clearer plan for snow removal, debris management and long-term maintenance if these sidewalks are built.
Feiner says he thinks the town board is open to changing the law that requires residents to remove snow from a sidewalk.
"The consensus of town board members is that might not be very fair, because if we're building sidewalks and we're asking people in the community to be good neighbors and to support it, then we shouldn't require them to shovel the snow," says Feiner.
Some say other issues have to be addressed first.
"We suffer from terrible flooding here. Anything that is going to increase impervious surface, I don't think helps the flooding situation," says Maugeri.
"We don't believe that the sidewalk is going to contribute to more flooding," says Feiner.
Some say it's needed, especially for people wanting to go to the park on the street.
"You can't do that safely on Taxter as it stands now," says Collins. "People want to be able to have a pedestrian friendly neighborhood. They want to be able to walk, not drive a couple blocks to walk their dog."
Feiner says the board will vote on authorizing an RFP at the town board meeting on Sept. 10.
