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2 LI roads are region's deadliest for pedestrians

BY ALFONSO A. CASTILLO | alfonso.castillo@newsday.com

October 29, 2008

Nassau's Hempstead Turnpike is the tri-state area's deadliest road for pedestrians, and Sunrise Highway in Suffolk is a close second, a group says.

Sunrise Highway also had seven deaths in Nassau, but the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a Manhattan-based nonprofit that aims to reduce dependency on cars, based its rankings on roadways in a single county. The group compiled data on fatal pedestrian accidents in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut from 2005 to 2007, and found that the two roads were the deadliest in the region.

Merrick Road in Nassau and Jericho Turnpike in Suffolk also ranked high.

The report reflects the need for Long Island planners to rethink their priorities, said Ryan Lynch, the group's Long Island coordinator and a senior planner.

"They're really just building roads to move cars as fast as possible through intersections, which creates a really hostile environment for pedestrians," said Lynch, who encouraged state transportation officials to "embrace more ideas that protect pedestrians and cyclists."

Most of the 15 deaths on Hempstead Turnpike during the study period were in Elmont, Franklin Square and Hempstead.

In New York City, Third Avenue and Broadway had the most fatalities - 10. Fatalities along Queens Boulevard, once dubbed the "Boulevard of Death," dropped to five between 2005 and 2007.

Newsday reported last year that Hempstead Turnpike had the Island's highest concentration of accident-prone locations.

A dozen pedestrians were killed on Suffolk's portion of Sunrise Highway and seven on Nassau's section during the same period.

Between 2005 and 2007, 184 pedestrians died on Long Island roads, according to the study.

State Department of Transportation spokesman Skip Carrier said the department "shared the concern" for safety. DOT crews install safety measures like crosswalk countdown clocks whenever they work on dangerous Long Island roads, including Hempstead Turnpike, he said.

He noted that fatalities on Hempstead Turnpike have gone down from nine in 1998 to two last year.

Eleanor Messana, 58, was crossing a particularly dangerous stretch of Sunrise Highway in Lindenhurst in 2007 when she was struck by a motorist and killed. Messana's sister, Palma Kelly, "absolutely" agreed that the road was among the most dangerous for pedestrians on Long Island, but was surprised to hear it ranked second in the study.

"I think the timing of the lights is off," Kelly said.