Pleasantville Takes Major Step Toward Manville Road Face-Lift
By Ed Perratore
The state Department of Transportation (DOT) has given Pleasantville its initial go-ahead for intended upgrades to the intersection of Manville Road and Memorial Plaza, but village officials aren’t resting on their laurels.
In order to obtain the DOT’s final approval, officials must next submit formal construction documents, referred to as CDs. Then, they will be ready to go.
“The DOT thinks we’re going to take two months to create the CDs, but we’re going to get (the submission) right back to them,” said Village Administrator Eric Morrissey, who lamented that the preliminary approval, after being described to village officials as “imminent,” still took two more months to arrive. “This is the frustration with the DOT. They don’t prioritize you unless you’re in threat of losing funding, and we’re not, we got an extension. Until you’re in that threat period, you’re on the bottom of the pile.”
In the meantime, Superintendent of Public Works Jeffrey Econom is prepping for some of the initial renovation of the Memorial Plaza commuter lot, he reported to the Village Board at the Aug. 12 work session. His plan, as he later told The Examiner, is to start next spring at the lot’s south end, away from the earliest Manville Road work, and work north.
It will include new concrete for curbs and bump-outs where sidewalks meet crosswalks. The lot is also expected to be shifted closer to the train tracks to make room for the right-turn lane from Memorial Plaza at Manville Road, which replaces the slip lane.
Also in the proposal, once the slip lane near the intersection of Manville and Memorial Plaza has been removed, is to lay out about 27 temporary parking spaces – at the lot’s north end – for commuters to use while the construction is taking place.
“I’m trying to keep as much parking as possible, as long as we can,” Econom said.
Eventually, a park-like civic space with trees and benches will take up much of that space abutting Manville Road.
Another part of last week’s discussion concerned the Bee-Line and Pace University buses that travel up and down Memorial Plaza. Econom laid out the village’s plans to move the southbound bus stop from just before the Bedford Road intersection to a half-block back, with the northbound stop directly across the street from the gazebo.
The bus stop’s shift will tie into construction, just south of the post office, of 70 Memorial Plaza, a four-story mixed-use building with an underground parking garage. A paved walkway between Cooley Avenue and Memorial Plaza will lead to a crosswalk that traverses both Memorial Plaza and the commuter lot, complete with ADA-accessible parking, drop curbs and benches at the bus stops.
These enhancements should allow anyone in a wheelchair or pushing a stroller to safely reach the paved walkway behind the lot that leads to the Metro-North station.
Aside from the Manville Road/Memorial Plaza revamp, Econom noted that the village will soon repave Wheeler Avenue from Manville Road to Bedford Road. The job, which will be done over a single night, will occur late this month or in early September.
For more details on the Manville Road Improvement project, visit www.pleasantville-ny.gov and click on “Projects & Initiatives.”
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/