How to make streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists around Gordon Heights, Deer Park and Hempstead Village

For decades, Tawaun Whitty envisioned Middle Country Road near Gordon Heights as a neighborhood made for walking.

But in some spots, pedestrians are forced to use the street with cars that hurtle through from points east and west.

Residents and local groups have long pushed for changes along a mile stretch on Middle Country Road, also known as Route 25, from the Stop & Shop near Grant Smith Road to beyond Wellington Road.

Needed improvements have come in dribs and drabs — a traffic light here, a crosswalk there, some streetlights — not enough to turn walking into a less-than-daunting exercise, Whitty and several community leaders said during a recent tour with national walkability expert Dan Burden and members of Vision Long Island, a smart growth planning group. 

“We’ve been left behind,” said Whitty, 43, director of operations at Vision Long Island and a near-lifelong resident of Gordon Heights.

“You can’t walk to the store, meet up with your friends and get something to eat on Middle Country Road,” Whitty said. "It's not safe."

Arterial roadways such as Middle Country Road have long been known to be dangerous. These thoroughfares are multilane, wide, with few stops and high speed limits, experts said. Businesses sitting back from the road create the perception of wide-open spaces. Insufficient biking paths and pedestrian crossings encourage speeding.

These and similar concerns are rampant across the Island, where a roadway network was created to move cars quickly at the expense of people on foot and bikes.

With officials declaring traffic fatalities across the country as having reached a crisis point, there's a push to change transportation systems, and some Long Island communities are seeking solutions. 

Bike lanes, longer pedestrian walk times, leaner road lanes, more crosswalks and greenery are some of the critical infrastructure needed, Burden said. Driver behavior is dictated by the surroundings, he said.

“Getting the speed analysis of each of your streets is going to be important to do and then figure out what's the correct speed," he said. "Call that the target speed and then put in the tools to get that target achieved.”

Eric Dumbaugh, professor and associate director of the Collaborative Sciences Center for Road Safety at Florida Atlantic University, said conventional traffic and engineering guidelines just don't cut it. 

"The presumption is that by designing a system according to the current design standards, which are designed toward high speed mobility, it's made safe even though we've shown time after time that's not true."

Stephen Canzoneri, spokesman with the state Department of Transportation, said the agency will review the study once it’s complete.

“Safety is our top priority,” he said in an email.

The following are some of the problems in Gordon Heights, Deer Park and Hempstead Village, as highlighted by Vision Long Island members and Burden during a preliminary study. 

Gordon Heights/Coram/Middle Island

Sidewalks once wide enough to fit two people are overtaken by grassy weeds. Some areas around Gordon Heights, Coram and Middle Island lack sidewalks altogether. Residents called one vacant wooded lot with a foot path that empties into a back street a “paper road” because it was designed in planning maps but never constructed.

A pedestrian walk button on Middle Country Road near Fife Drive is partially fenced in on a grassy lawn in front of a 7-Eleven, and community advocates claim it’s not easily accessible.

Bike lanes abruptly end on one side of Homestead Drive. Cars cruise through at posted speed limits of 45 mph, with a few cyclists weaving in between.

Burden recommended adding buffered bike lanes along Middle Country Road as well as reducing speed limits and adding welcoming gateway signs with the community's name and new speed limits to alert drivers they’re entering a new neighborhood. Near Fife Drive, he quickly noted that the textured sidewalk bumps near a curb for people who are visually impaired are confusing because it’s one large piece for two crosswalks.

At the Suffolk County Social Services Building at 80 Middle Country Rd., people often walk in via the driveway, alongside fast-moving cars, rather than use an out-of-the-way side entrance, advocates said. They would like a new entrance for pedestrians on Middle Country Road.

“The cars just speed through as fast as they can, to get to where they need to go,” said Gerry Lake, 46, a longtime resident. Last year, civic groups and officials started an initiative called “Take Back 25,” to address public and traffic safety issues.

Lake added that “more influential neighborhoods get the work done and they have safer roads that are accessible to pedestrians and cyclists and people with disabilities.”

Gail Lynch-Bailey, president of the Middle Island Civic Association, said she’s been striving to bring changes to the area, including repairing broken streetlights. “We want to bring back that main street feel … People need to feel protected,” she said.

A spokesman for the Town of Brookhaven said there was no immediate comment because Middle Country Road is managed by the state.

Deer Park

On Deer Park Avenue, near Long Island Avenue, the roar of engines was deafening.

More than 31,000 cars use that section of the road daily, according to DOT estimates. Burden said reducing the posted speed limits of 40 mph to 30 would greatly reduce the noise pollution and improve the walking experience. He said that adding gateway signs also could help notify drivers that they're entering a place where people live, and that it’s time to slow down. Advocates said the area, which has several businesses and vacancies, needs revitalization.

Burden measured the lane widths on Deer Park Avenue at 12 feet and called them “freeway” size, recommending the lanes be narrowed to 10 feet. Slimmer lanes make drivers uncomfortable, and they’re more likely to drive slower, advocates said.

Vision Long Island also said it would have to continue to assess whether a small median on Deer Park Avenue could be widened for trees or whether adding more trees to create a canopy is a possibility. Advocates were concerned about students from nearby Deer Park High School who cross to a Taco Bell without necessary crosswalks.

“The cars are going too fast. It’s just outrageous,” said Valerie St. Bernard, founder of the Deer Park Drug Prevention Coalition, who added too many stores are closed. "It’s just not a nice place to walk, and it’s dangerous."

Anthony Macaluso, Deer Park fire commissioner, stressed that the roadway always will serve a high volume of cars, even if measures are taken to slow traffic.

“This has been here before us and it is going to be here afterward. It's just the main thoroughfare from the expressway down to the south,” Macaluso said.

Burden reminded him that improvements can still go a long way toward increasing walkability.

“You can't make changes everywhere on Long Island, but you certainly can where people choose to live and shop and socialize,” Burden said.

Ryan Bonner, a spokesperson with the Town of Babylon, said the town hired Vision Long Island to study potential improvements to downtown areas being revitalized.

“So, we are certainly interested in combing through the final report and then advocating to the state for any improvements that should be made to the state road,” he said in an email.

Hempstead Village

The biggest issue in the downtown business district was safety and speeding cars. Many sections could use more crosswalks, or better defined ones, according to advocates.

On Fulton Avenue (NY-24) near North Franklin Street, Burden recommended trimming the wide lanes. The length of one crossing also should be shortened by either extending the curb, adding a median or adding other modifications.

“When you cross here, there is just no protection,” Burden said.

He also recommended pedestrians should automatically have longer lead times to cross a street, eliminating the need to push a walk button — which he said many pedestrians fail to utilize.

Burden said the four lanes on North Franklin could potentially be reduced to three lanes, with the middle road available for emergency services, depending on traffic volumes.

He also suggested adding a crosswalk on North Franklin near Orchard Street, noting it's near a parking lot and a natural place to cross. He said crosswalks on either end of the street are too far and not convenient.

Krystal Harris, 23, was passing by and couldn't help but share that she nearly got hit crossing North Franklin Street near Orchard Street.

"There's nothing here to protect us," she said, adding she's been dealing with area traffic concerns her whole life.

Burden also recommended that streets such as Main Street should not exceed 19 mph, adding that gives businesses a boost.

“And by the way, that's the same speed that the old trolley cars and even horses would maintain. We're just trying to get back to the safest, quietest, most retail and social friendly streets for a downtown, urban core,” Burden said.

Clarions Griffith, a Hempstead Village trustee, said she fields many complaints about the lack of bike lanes and cars double parked.

“We want to create a walk-friendly environment and create bike paths. We have a lot of a traffic that moves through it because we are near the hub,” Griffith said.

Shelley Brazley, legislative aide to Hempstead Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby, said it's important to safeguard students traveling to and from school.

"Children are coming from as far as Hofstra University," Brazley said. "They walk and they all cut through here. So there is a need for us to really be looking in this area in particular.”

Photo captions have been updated to correct street names in Coram.