P’ville Angered By State, County Inaction on Saw Mill Flooding

Mounting frustration caused by four recent closures of the Saw Mill River Parkway following heavy rainfall and the lack of action by the county and state has angered officials in the most heavily impacted municipality.

The Village of Pleasantville renewed its plea last week to the state Department of Transportation (DOT), which oversees the Saw Mill River Parkway, to find a solution that would minimize, if not completely eliminate, the flooding. Once the two-lane parkway is flooded, usually between Manville Road and Marble Avenue, cars are detoured off the parkway and into Pleasantville causing myriad traffic nightmares.

For a village that is only 1.8 square miles, the line of cars from travelers looks eerily similar to gas lines following Hurricane Sandy or even the final scene in “Field of Dreams.”

During last week’s village board meeting, Mayor Peter Scherer acknowledged the worsening problem and told residents that the board is again pressuring the DOT and Westchester County to find short- and long-term solutions for the problems that too often result in a submerged stretch of parkway.

“It is utter and complete gridlock,” Scherer said. “So the impact on the Village of Pleasantville is huge, the impact on our residents is huge and the regional economic impact is huge.”

“There’s got to be some near term action on this thing,” Scherer added.

A DOT spokesman said most of the short- and long-term solutions are similar to what has already been discussed. Spokesman Beau Duffy said adding asphalt, which was tried about seven years ago, provided temporary relief. A long-term cost prohibitive solution is elevating the roadway, but unlikely to occur.

“There are different kinds of techniques you can use to handle stormwater management and that’s kind of what they are primarily focused on at the moment,” Duffy said. “A bridge would be one solution but what they’re primarily focused on is a comprehensive flood mitigation plan. That’s kind of what they have their eye on at the moment.”

Last week, Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti fired off a letter to the commissioners at DOT and the state Department of Environmental Conservation requesting an immediate meeting with the two departments. He said the state can spend billions on a new Tappan Zee Bridge but can’t find funding to rectify a much simpler matter.

“While the region anticipates a new New York multi-billion dollar crossing over the mighty Hudson River, daily commuters can’t cross the floodwaters of the Saw Mill River that force a closing of the Saw Mill River Parkway,” Abinanti said.

Scherer and the village board also want to see the county explore ways to alleviate the horrendous traffic. As of now, the village receives no notice when the decision is made to close the parkway.

Scherer said Pleasantville also gets no police assistance from the county to help direct traffic, specifically at the Grant Street intersection and along Marble Avenue.

“Part of the problem we have is when these incidents occur it coincides with a high demand of county police services everywhere else,” Scherer said. “So the answer so far has been they don’t have any resources to assist us with that.”

Scherer said he would also welcome from the county the placement of detour signs that would give drivers alternate routes or have a system in place that would warn drivers the Saw Mill is set to close so they can exit elsewhere.

For now, heavy rains will likely keep resulting in closures and frustration. Village Administrator Patricia Dwyer said that in the past, large parties at establishments have been called off because of the stalling traffic. Besides the economic impact, public safety is also at risk if emergency vehicles can’t reach certain locations in a timely manner, Dwyer added.

Trustee Mindy Berard said finding a remedy is long overdue.

“I think the breaking point was a long time ago,” Berard said. “I don’t know what it’s going to take.”