Community Corner
West Shore Road Reopens
Seven months after Hurricane Sandy, destroyed roadway open to all residents.
Seven months after Hurricane Sandy tore down West Shore Road and cut off Bayville's main connection to Oyster Bay, the road has officially reopened.
The main road that collapsed in the force of Hurricane Sandy was officially reopened at 2 p.m. Monday by Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and other officials.
"We're glad to have it back," exclaimed Bayville Mayor Doug Watson, commending construction and DPW crews for their work and saying he anticipates the next phase of the project.
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The road reopened nearly a month earlier than scheduled and Mangano commended residents' resilience and understanding, local leadership, and businesses who came together and made it possible to make the project move so quickly.
"The impact that it has had on the local business community is quite dramatic," said Matt Silver of The Crescent Beach Club.
Find out what's happening in Oyster Baywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Businesses across Bayville struggled through the winter as customers avoided dealing with winding detours to get to their shops. Some reported profit losses of up to 30 percent as they waited for the road to reopen.
"We can't be more thankful and more excited to have it open and welcome everybody to come down to Bayville and enjoy all it has to offer," said Silver.
Various groups from around Bayville and Oyster Bay quickly took a spin on the newly opened roadway and posted excited updates on Facebook.
"I have entered Bayville and it only took a couple of minutes," posted I Love Oyster Bay, Long Island on Facebook.
"…if I was home I'd drive down West Shore Road right now.... Just cause I can," wrote the I <3 Bayville NY Facebook group.
Some closures will still be necessary as the project moves into its second phase of minor construction. However, Mangano said the process would be much less of an inconvenience to residents as emergency repairs are no longer a factor.
“The rebuilding of the West Shore Road seawall and roadway is symbolic of Nassau County moving forward and rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy,” Mangano said in a later statement.
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