Massapequa calls for Sunrise 'safety zone'

Massapequa students who have to cross the six-lane Sunrise Highway on foot each day should be safely bused to school instead, said residents rallying Sunday for a "child safety zone."

Texting drivers, vehicles that speed at more than 70 mph and other factors have made it difficult "to put safety first," said Gary Bennett, a Massapequa school board trustee. "This is something I will not tolerate, and I will not live with," he said.

Three pedestrians were killed in the past 18 months on Sunrise Highway between Wantagh and Massapequa Park, he said.

Bennett, who lives in Massapequa, led a rally of about 60 demonstrators in the parking lot of the Long Island Rail Road station in Massapequa Park as vehicles zoomed past on Sunrise.

About 80 students must cross the road to get to Massapequa Park High School. They live too close to the school to qualify for a bus ride, Bennett said. He urged the state to designate a safety zone to encourage the district to add those students to existing bus routes. The cost would be low and funds can be found in the district budget, he said.

Ally Gardner, 15, a Massapequa High School sophomore, said she now gets rides to school with her cousin because her parents don't permit her to cross Sunrise by foot, she said.

Gardner cited Brittany Vega, 14, a Wantagh High School student killed on Sunrise in September 2010, as a reason for action.

"That can happen right here," Gardner said. "I don't trust the people who are driving. In the mornings, they're in a rush to get to work, and they're not going to stop for us."

Sunrise meets 13 of 15 criteria points necessary to receive safety zone designation from the state Department of Transportation, Bennett said. He wants the road to be exempt from the "capricious" points system and Sunrise's record of fatalities taken into account.

Representatives of the state DOT could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Several lawmakers attended the rally, although Bennett is not seeking any legislation.

State Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick) said the state Department of Education has agreed Sunrise should get a one-time exemption to allow buses to pick up students who have to cross the road.

State Assemb. Joseph Saladino (R-Massapequa) appealed for an exemption as "common sense." "A situation like this is an anomaly, and we must act quickly and decisively to save children's lives," he said.