What better setting to talk about pedestrian safety than standing yards away from one of the many dangerous intersections on Long Island?
Vision Long Island and the Long Island Complete Streets Coalition held a press conference July 7 at the corner of state Route 109 (aka Fulton Street) and Main Street in Farmingdale to unveil an emergency pedestrian action plan. A press release noted that this was a “very skewed intersection, leading to very long crossing distances.”
The background soundtrack to the conference was the screeching of brakes, the honking of horns, the revving up of heavy truck motors and the unceasing sound of tires rolling on the pavement.
Eric Alexander, executive director of Vision Long Island, emceed the event, whose operative phrases were “traffic calming” (the installation of measures designed to reduce traffic speeds) and “complete streets,” defined by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) as “a roadway planned and designed to consider the safe, convenient access and mobility of all roadway users of all ages and abilities.”
The issue was personal for Alexander, as he once lived in an apartment complex nearby and recalled how difficult it was to cross the street. His father is a resident at the Hardscrabble Apartments several blocks away on Main Street, and according to Alexander, “This has been an ongoing issue for many years for my family and lots of folks.”
Earlier that week, state Senator John Brooks, who shares Farmingdale with Sen. Kemp Hannon, stood at the same corner with Assemblywoman Christine Pellegrino and called for the NYSDOT to study the X-shaped intersection. Hannon had similarly called on the DOT to do something about a spot where, since March, two people have lost their lives in auto accidents.
Hannon, a sponsor of the Complete Streets legislation, called 109 “a speedway.” He showed up at the conference to say that he had heard back from DOT Regional Director Joseph Brown, whose department had “conducted an extensive and thorough investigation regarding your concerns.”
Based on the studies, the DOT will reduce the lane width to 11 feet, “upgrade all pavement markings on Route 109 with dotted white lines, solid white edge lines and solid yellow lines from Route 24 to Route 110.” It will also “modify the traffic signal timing configuration…in which a left turn vehicle will have its own phase without having to wait for a gap in the oncoming traffic. The vehicle will not be permitted to turn on any phase except during the arrow indication.”
In addition, the speed limit will be reduced from 40 to 35 mph and warning signs will be posted. The work was expected to be completed this summer.
“Will all that help? It certainly will help,” Hannon told the Farmingdale Observer of the changes. “But will it be enough? We don’t know.”
Farmingdale Mayor Ralph Ekstrand said that the Nassau County Police Department Second Precinct does well by the village, especially in issuing tickets along its main thoroughfares.
“The sad news is that they’ve issued no tickets for less than 11 miles [above the limit on 109],” said Ekstrand. “And the average speeding ticket right now is 18 miles above the speed limit. So you know how fast some people are traveling if the average is 18 miles.”
Ekstrand said it was not just about Farmingdale, and “we have to work together to make [our communities] safer for pedestrians.”
Tina Diamond of the Concerned Citizens Association of Farmingdale thanked Hannon for his efforts and also the crossing guards—especially those at the nearby dangerous crosswalks. She noted that many kids had to cross 109 to get to either the high school or the middle school, which are on the opposite sides of the route.
“There are parents who are afraid to let their kids walk. So they drive them [back and forth] to school, and you have added traffic,” she said.
According to the NYSDOT, 142 people were killed in Nassau County in vehicle-pedestrian crashes between 2011-15, and a further 4,191 were injured.
Referring to the traffic accident numbers, Alexander said, “They are not just statistics, they are people, real people. We have a human imperative to take action here. And the great part about it is, we can do it.”
He introduced two women whose loved ones were struck by cars and provided a human face to the problem.
On Sept. 22, 2010, Sandi Vega of Wantagh lost her daughter Brittany, killed crossing Sunrise Highway on her way to school.
Vega said that after this tragedy, “I made it my mission to help where I could,” and was nine months pregnant when she accepted Alexander’s offer to travel up to Albany to advocate for the Complete Streets Act, which was signed into law in 2011.
Jivanna Bennaeim of Great Neck described how her husband Oren was killed by a hit-and-run driver while crossing Middle Neck Road. He was at a crosswalk and had right-of-way.
Alexander praised Governor Andrew Cuomo for spearheading the New York State Pedestrian Safety Action Plan. According to a press release, the “five-year, multi-agency initiative provides $110 million to improve safety for pedestrians through infrastructure improvements, public education efforts and enforcement across Upstate and Long Island.”
Alexander noted that there were 40 traffic calming projects under way on Long Island, as opposed to none 20 years ago.
A handout at the press conference read: “Walkability is critical in planning for our future with nearly 13,000 units of transit oriented development approved in the last decade with more on the way. If that promise is to be realized we need to take seriously the conditions for young people, seniors, disabled, families—everyone who seeks to walk and bike in a community.”
The Plan:
The Emergency Pedestrian Safety Action Plan that was presented at the July 7 meeting:
1) Design streets to reflect adjacent land uses. Speed may be a priority in areas between “places,” but in downtowns and other areas where there are many people present, safety, comfort and access to adjacent properties should take priority over speed. A person hit by a car going 40 mph has only a 10 percent chance of surviving the crash;
2) The design speed of the roadway should match the posted speed. Simply putting a 30 (or 40) mph speed limit sign on a wide, straight road designed to handle 50+ mph traffic does not slow traffic down;
3) Use visual cues to alert drivers to changing conditions. Signs alone will not slow down traffic. Narrower roads, tree canopy, wider sidewalks and prominent crosswalks indicate to drivers that they are not in a place where speeding is appropriate. “Gateways” can indicate to drivers that they are entering a different zone;
4) Shorten crossing distances in areas with high pedestrian activity. Wide intersections allow drivers to make turns without slowing down to a safe speed. They also put the people crossing the street at risk for a longer time because they are on the road surface where they could potentially get hit for a longer time to get from curb to curb;
5) 12-foot-wide lanes should not be used in areas where pedestrians are present. Wider lanes encourage faster driving. They are unnecessary and inappropriate to use in areas where drivers should be driving more slowly due to surrounding conditions. 10- to 11-foot lanes are just as safe for roads with posted speeds under 45 mph;
6) Reporting of pedestrian crashes should reflect the speed of the vehicle. Too often the source of the crash is misdiagnosed and speed is severely discounted. Reports need to include the speed of the vehicle;
7) Dedicated funding for local safe streets and traffic calming needs to be renewed. Dedicate at least 2 percent of the $1 billion increase in the NYSDOT Capital Program (a minimum of $100 million) to pedestrian and bicycling projects over the next five years;
8) Local input is needed for the New York State Pedestrian Safety Action Plan. Local input is needed to connect the community needs and roadway conditions with policy makers;
9) Bicycle lanes, safety programs and innovative bike share programs need to be put in place. Installing bike lanes, where appropriate, bike safety programs and innovative bike share programs assist pedestrian initiatives by having alternative modes of travel in place through Long Island’s roadway network;
10) Local citizens, businesses and municipalities need to unite to make their streets safe. Taking action at public meetings, lobbying Albany and Washington for funding, working with local community and transportation organizations are all needed. Local residents and businesses and government officials working together can raise awareness and physically change many of Long Island’s deadliest roadways.
