From Franklin to Franklin

The late Benjamin Franklin, diplomat, Declaration of Independence co-author, scientist and almanac publisher has been honored perhaps more than any non-President or non-general by our country. He graces our nation’s most prestigious piece of paper currency, the $100 bill. Towns, schools and streets have been named after him and his includes Franklin Place in Woodmere and Franklin Avenue in Hewlett.

Having Franklin on your mind or rattling around the brain is a mind-numbing thing to do in The Five Towns on any given rush hour afternoon if you are among the unfortunate benighted souls who are compelled to traverse Broadway between the two aforementioned Franklins between Woodmere and Hewlett. Traffic backs-up from Hewlett all the way into the heart of Woodmere at 5:30 most days. West Broadway can back up nearly as far. Good old Ben must be posthumously offended to be associated (if only figuratively) with all this traffic between two streets named in his honor,

We’ve written several times about the Franklin Avenue choke point that makes getting from Lawrence, Cedarhurst and Woodmere to Hewlett and points east a colossal pain in the posterior. It discourages commerce by inhibiting the easy, free-flow of traffic. We’ve posited that downtown Woodmere is the ghost town it is in part due to the nightmare of traversing Broadway. It discourages folks from taking this street which is where most of Woodmere’s business is or should be located. But, more importantly, is there a reason to spend upwards of 10 minutes just to go from Franklin in Woodmere to Franklin in Hewlett?

We’ve suggested that Broadway and West Broadway each be made into one-way streets to speed-up the flow of traffic and allow for turn lanes. The County and The Town have essentially given up on the problem, but in the final analysis, the solving of small quality of life issues is and should be the essence of good local government. We again call on our powers that be to come up with solutions to this very annoying transportation problem so as to encourage inter-Five Towns travel and encourage more commerce.