Kleiner’s Korner: Constructing Three Motor Parkway Extensions
Three extensions to the Motor Parkway were detailed in the May and June, 1910 editions of "The Motor World" and "Good Roads" magazines. Construction and material used were documented.
These extended the parkway westward from the Meadowbrook Lodge to Jericho Turnpike, three miles west of Garden City to Lake Success and in Suffolk County eastward to a point near Wynandanch.
Art Kleiner
Meadowbrook Lodge to Jericho Turnpike
Material used in this section that opened May 28, 1910 was different than used in previous sections, . . .
. . . however almost all curves previously built had this new material applied. A special weekend rate of $1 was also introduced at the time.
Two More Extensions Under Construction
Two extensions were being constructed during June of 1910 - one in Nassau and one in Suffolk.
A New Material and Construction Method
A new pavement called "Apposite" was used in constructing these two sections.
The Nassau extension totaled 4 1/2 miles, the Suffolk one 8 miles.
The Hassan Paving Co. was chosen to construct these sections.
Borrow pits, as shown in the Motor Parkway survey map below, were used to excavate material to be used for the parkway and were located near the parkway itself.
This borrow pit was located west of Newbridge Road and south of the Central Rail Road tracks and the Motor Parkway in the Hempstead Plains in today's Levittown.
Material was mixed and treated and then taken by wheelbarrel to points along lthe new roadway to be spread by rakes.
Hot hand rollers and a 5-ton steam roller were used to roll the material into a resilient road surface. Anyone want to guess who is in the car behind the workers?
The End Result
Comments
Great find and information, Art. Think those of us familiar with the LIMP realize that the location of the former Borrow Pit became a Electric Substation for Lilco and now PSEG LI. Below is the definition of Apposite, seems relevant : )
Hey Art, you forgot where your old neighborhood located? That old Borrow Pit now a electrical substation is in East Meadow! Note the East Meadow Fire Department 3 in the middle of the picture. Levittown located way east of this location.
Sorry Mark but even though moving away recently I did spend 38 years in the area. Substation and FD Company 3 are both in Levittown as their addresses show.
My home (a few blocks north) had a Levittown zip code (but not a Levitt home)but my kids went to East Meadow schools (some actually were in Westbury), paid taxes to East Meadow and water supplied by Hicksville Water District.
Kind of mixed up but that’s LI! Lol
Art- I heard from two guys at a vintage car club meet debating of similar crazy situation of Floral Park, School district, Post Office, Police force, property tax, etc. etc. depending on where you live could be a sticky situation. The other evening one of gent I saw who had that debate telling me the other gent was not living in Floral Park as he claimed, closer to Elmont! OH! Something new I learned.
Mark, East Northport post office, but Commack SD, FD, AD. Not quite as confusing.
In regards to the pavement, when I think about most roads back then, I get that this was an improvement over them - added to the fact you could soon go quite a distance.
I work with soil, aggregates, paving ect. on a daily basis. I appreciate how hard those men worked with limited equipment back in early 1900’s. Hard labor.
The question begs the answer, “who is in the car behind the workers?”. Has to be Willie K….