ToH - CS - Highway

Residents, who operate over 500,000 vehicles on town roads, rely on the Highway Department to keep them moving. The department maintains more than 1,200 miles of roadway, along with 163 town parking fields. Roads and parking fields must be repaired, cleaned and striped for safe driving. In appropriate seasons, leaves and snow are cleared from the roadways. In addition, thousands of catch basins are maintained as well as 2,200 miles of storm water drains. The Highway department also assists in removing trees that have fallen in severe weather, clears dead animals from the streets and picks up abandoned vehicles when authorized to do so by local police departments.

The Town of Hempstead Highway Department can be reached at (516) 489-5000. If you reside in an incorporated village and you are in of need of roadway assistance, you should contact your village's Department of Public Works.

In the Town of Hempstead, homeowners are responsible to maintain the area from the curb to 10 feet back from the property line. This section is known as the TOWN RIGHT-OF-WAY. Any work being done in that area by a homeowner or a utility company requires a permit from the Town of Hempstead's Highway Department.

On request, the town will inspect a tree to determine if it is dead, dying or diseased. Although the maintenance of curb side trees is the responsibility of the abutting property owner, the town will arrange to remove a dead, dying or diseased tree after receipt of a written request directed to the Engineering Department at 350 Front Street, Hempstead, NY 11550. A fee of $350 per tree accompanies this service.

The Town of Hempstead will plant curbside tree(s) in front of a residential property at the written request of the property owner. The property owner must send a written request for tree planting to the Town of Hempstead Department of Engineering, 350 Front Street, Hempstead, NY 11550. Upon receipt of the letter, a Town inspector will visit the property to determine if it is a suitable location for planting.

The guidelines for where a tree can be planted include distance from a corner, existing tree spacing, width of the grass strip, underground utility locations, and/or distance to a driveway. After the site visit by the inspector, the Engineering Department will send a response letter to the homeowner indicating the number of trees that have been approved for planting, along with a color brochure indicating the type of trees available.

The fee for planting is currently set at $150.00 per tree planted, regardless of the type(s) of tree selected by the homeowner. The homeowner must return the form indicating their preferred tree species with payment in order to be placed on the planting list for the following fall planting season. If you have any questions regarding the program please call the Engineering Department at 516-812-3479.

Residents are responsible for the removal of leaves on their own property. Leaves should be bagged and left out for yard waste collection according to their sanitation schedule. At no time should leaves be raked into roadways. Naturally fallen leaves will be removed from roadways beginning the first week of November through the second week of December, weather permitting.

Following the necessary plowing and salting operations of winter, the warming weather allows us to begin our thorough street sweeping program. Beginning in early April, town roadways are swept on a scheduled basis. Schedules are mailed to each resident indicating specific days of service. Residents are requested to remove their cars from the roadway during scheduled street sweeping dates between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Potholes should be reported directly to the Highway Department at (516) 489-5000. Residents should provide the exact street address and the nearest cross street. During the winter months, the Highway Department will fill the potholes with temporary cold patch, until permanent repairs can be made the following spring.

When snow is predicted, residents are asked to remove their vehicles from roadways so snowplows can clear streets efficiently and effectively. Please wait until snowplows have cleared their streets before shoveling driveways and sidewalks. Always shovel snow to the right of your driveway apron (as you face the street) so plows do not push snow back in front of your driveway. Fire departments depend on neighbors to clear snow away from hydrants so they can access them quickly in the event of a fire. If you live on a corner, please also clear a path from the sidewalk to the street at the corner for pedestrians.