Politics & Government

Infrastructure Projects Keep Bronxville Officials Busy

In this week's column, Bronxville Mayor Mary Marvin discusses all the infrastructure projects the village is involved in this summer.

Written by Bronxville Mayor Mary Marvin

This summer, activity at Village Hall defies the traditional quiet of past years as we embark on a myriad of infrastructure projects. 

The Garden Avenue parking lot flood mitigation project is well underway and on schedule. Funded primarily with a grant award from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the project involves the construction of under pavement water storage chambers, permeable concrete pavers, enhanced tree pits and catch basin inserts to capture and treat rainfall in the contributing drainage area. All of the above will help to contain, and very importantly, treat storm water to reduce flooding and improve overall storm water quality. 

After the underground pavers and chamber are completed, the Village will install curbing and islands for additional planting and lighting.  Following this, the lot layout will be reconfigured to make it more user friendly and the infrastructure will be installed to provide for the possibility of more modern parking payment options than the current coin operated meters. As of today, all of the above is on schedule to be completed by September.

Find out what's happening in Bronxville-Eastchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

At the Board of Trustees meeting on Monday night, the Trustees also approved an additional phase of our ongoing effort to improve the condition and flow of our sewer system. We are currently working with our consulting engineer to televise and clean designated sanitary sewer lines which will help extend their useful life.  This will also further assist the Village with identifying those lines that need to be replaced or relined.

We continue to allocate significant capital funds to maintain our roads and curbs. Slated for repaving this summer are a myriad of streets throughout the Village including Summit Avenue from Hobart to the Village line, Sherman Avenue, Hamilton Avenue, Prescott Avenue from Gladwin to Avon Road, Avon Road from Park Avenue to Sagamore Road and Pondfield Road from Tanglewylde Avenue to Valley Road.   Residents of the adjacent homes and businesses will be noticed in advance so residents can adjust their schedules if need be. 

Find out what's happening in Bronxville-Eastchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Village and School staff are working jointly to bid our FEMA flood mitigation grant project in the fall with work to begin in the winter so as to mitigate the project’s effect on athletic field use.  As a reminder the Village received a 75% funded grant of nearly $5M to mitigate flooding on school property and its environs. 

The Kensington Road Project is poised to begin as soon as final approval letters from the Department of Environmental Conservation are received and Con Edison and Metro North officially sign off on their roles in the project. We expect all to happen by month’s end. 

We are also in the final stages of finalizing our agreement with the Town of Eastchester and the City of Yonkers to jointly share in the cost of the emergency repairs on the Parkway Road Bridge. The Village is prepared to take the lead in coordinating the actual reconstruction process. 

In partnership with the Village’s Historical Conservancy, we are embarking on a multi-year project to repair and replace our distinctive street signs. Utilizing the services of Les Metalliers Campenois, a fine metalworks firm, the signature frame and brackets will be systematically repaired or replaced throughout the Village. 

In another restoration endeavor, the Bronxville Historical Conservancy has also partnered with People’s Bank to repair and restore the Clock that greets Villagers as they arrive in town.  Instead of purchasing pre-fab clocks that are springing up in many communities, the Bank and the Conservancy chose to celebrate the uniqueness and the historical significance of our clock and undertake a long awaited restoration plan. 

In an effort to address the Village’s role in helping to attract businesses to our empty store fronts, the Trustees embarked on a Phase I Review of our Zoning Code to spot potential impediments to business growth as well as to streamline the approval process.  In addition, we seek to enhance code provisions that encourage overall attractive streetscape and welcoming ambiance. 

To that end, as a first effort, the configuration of outdoor dining as well as exterior merchandise displays will be addressed in the coming weeks. 

As the Trustees concentrate on the integrity of the substructure of the Village, our Bronxville Beautification Committee (BBC) worked tirelessly this spring to make our Village and our streetscape so attractive. I truly believe they outdid themselves this year! 

In a long hoped for partnership, the BBC will be collaborating with our Village Post Office to landscape their grounds and update the benches, creating another pocket of beauty in our business district. 

All of the above improvements will come with their share of disruptions, there is no doubt. As we move forward for long-term benefit, we at Village Hall are very mindful of the attendant sacrifices to some residents and promise to mitigate disruption wherever possible.



Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here