Finding a way to halt neighborhood drag strip

On Mastic Beach Road, the traffic has become awful with cars and especially motorcycles using it for a drag strip. Over the past few years, our hedges have been driven through, my neighbor has had his fence driven through, and a fire hydrant has been knocked over. What we need is an all-way stop sign installed at the intersection with Peeker Avenue.

- Denise Murgola,

Mastic Beach

IN response to our call, the Town of Brookhaven said that it would begin to periodically use speed-detecting machines along Mastic Beach Road and would also request that Suffolk County's Seventh Precinct increase patrols there.

But the stop sign is another story. Town officials said that a traffic study was conducted in May 2009 at the request of residents and showed that the intersection doesn't meet the Federal Highway Administration guidelines for an all-way stop.

According to the study, Peeker Avenue averages 20 vehicles per hour during its busiest daily eight-hour span - which is well below the volume requirement of 140 for a stop sign. Peeker's total traffic count of 163 vehicles over eight hours also falls short of standards.

In addition, traffic safety director Lynn Weyant said only two accidents were reported at the intersection last year and "one was a rear-end, which isn't correctable by an all-way stop."

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