COMMUNITY WATCHDOG: Unsafe bus stop in Shirley

Every afternoon as I drive home from work, I pass a bus stop on the William Floyd Parkway near Probst Drive in Shirley. To reach the bus stop, mothers carry strollers over the guardrail and sit on the rail precariously waiting for the bus to come. The bus stop needs to be relocated and a bench or shelter would be appreciated.

- Theresa Dereme, Shirley

Within a week of our call, Suffolk County Transit moved the troublesome bus stop roughly 400 feet north to intersection of Robert Road.

According to county officials, the previous bus stop was "never authorized" and had been created as riders inched their way north from a bus stop at Beacon Street. The new stop is a much safer alternative because there is traffic light and crosswalk.

"Quite frankly, it slipped under the radar," said Suffolk's director of transportation operations, Bob Shinnick. "We have instructed drivers to continue picking up passengers at the old location for a while, but to advise them to start using the new location."

Shinnick said that the county is also monitoring the new Robert Road bus stop to gauge the extent of its use and whether it would qualify for a bus shelter, though resources for one at this time are "relatively scarce."

Readers with concerns about bus stops in Suffolk should call 631- 852-5200.

- Michael R. Ebert

Trucks pose a danger

Eastwood Boulevard between Middle Country Road (NY Route 25) and School Street in Centereach is starting to become very dangerous because of 18-wheelers and other trucks making deliveries to Walmart. At one time, there was a sign that prohibited trucks, except for local deliveries. These trucks should be diverted to Mark Tree Road, a nonresidential street one block over.

- Peter Polapink, Centereach

The Town of Brookhaven's Division of Traffic Safety reviewed its traffic code and determined that there is no existing ordinance that excludes trucks from entering Eastwood Boulevard at Middle Country Road.

The town also contacted the state Department of Transportation, which reviewed photos taken of the intersection before the DOT began its $28.2 million improvement project on a 3.6-mile stretch of Middle Country Road last year. The photos showed no evidence of truck exclusion signs at the location, the town said.

However, traffic safety director Lynn Weyant said that the town would send engineers "to get classification counts as soon as weather permits" to assess the level of truck use on the road.

Brookhaven Town residents with concerns about traffic safety on town roads should contact the Division of Traffic Safety at 631-451-6480.

- Michael R. Ebert

An unwanted parking ban

The Town of Hempstead put up NO STOPPING signs on our block in Elmont. If residents had been notified, we would have been opposed. We park on the streets, as do our visitors. The blocks on Dutch Broadway are very long. Are we supposed to walk a mile to park our cars around the corner? Plus the parked cars slow down traffic. We hear they're taking away the shoulder where we park so that new senior housing being built a block away can have a dedicated left-turn lane for the gated community. Why should people who have been living here and paying taxes for years be penalized because of these new units?

- Craig Keller, Elmont

We talked to both Town of Hempstead and Nassau County officials about your opposition to converting the shoulder in front of your homes into a traffic lane.

We asked them: How will you and your neighbors safely enter and exit your driveways with little or no shoulder to buffer you from traffic on Dutch Broadway? What about the depreciation effect the No Stopping restrictions will have on your homes? Who would want to purchase a house on your block when potential buyers can't even stop in front and exit their cars? And why weren't you and your neighbors notified about the changes? (Some of your neighbors west of you on Dutch Broadway who are within the 200-feet radius of the new development were notified, but it was unclear if they voiced opposition to the parking lane changes when a public hearing on the development was held in 2005, town spokesman Michael Deery said.)

Town and county officials say they understand the concerns and they'll be meeting with you and your neighbors to see what can be done to solve the problem.

"The county will look at it and see if we can come up with an alternative plan." Nassau Public Works Commissioner Ray Ribeiro said recently.

On Friday, Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray was emphatic. "We're going to have to do something for those single-family homeowners," she said of Keller and his neighbors. "We take this issue seriously and we're going to work with the county to try to come to a solution that is equitable for both them and the developer."