Report: Hempstead Tpke. still region's deadliest road

A pedestrian prepares to cross the intersection of Hempstead Turnpike... — A pedestrian prepares to cross the intersection of Hempstead Turnpike and North Franklin Street on Jan. 10, 2012. Credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa

By KEITH HERBERTkeith.herbert@newsday.comMarch 7, 2012

Long Island has six of the most dangerous roads for pedestrians in the metropolitan region, with previously ranked Hempstead Turnpike and Sunrise Highway joined by newcomers Route 110 and Wicks Road in Suffolk County in a new Tri-State Transportation Campaign report.

The transportation advocacy group uses pedestrian fatalities from federal records in its yearly analysis and compilation of the dangerous roads list, which includes roads in New York City, downstate New York and portions of New Jersey and Connecticut. The analysis covered fatalities reported from 2008 through 2010.

Hempstead Turnpike in Nassau County led the list for the fourth time since 2008, with 15 fatalities over the three-year span. Sunrise Highway in Suffolk County moved up to third from fourth.

"Hempstead Turnpike is once again atop the list, along with numerous other roads on Long Island," said Ryan Lynch, the group's policy director.

The upper portion of Broadway in Manhattan came in second with 13 fatalities, followed by Sunrise Highway in Suffolk County, with 10. Sunrise Highway in Nassau County was the next-highest ranking road, with seven fatalities, according to Tri-State. Middle Country Road in Suffolk also had seven pedestrian deaths. Merrick Road in Nassau had five.

Long Island newcomers to the list were both in Suffolk: Route 110, also known as New York Avenue, Walt Whitman Road and Broadhollow Road, with a total of seven fatalities during the three-year span, and Wicks Road, also known as Fifth Avenue and County Route 13, with six fatalities from 2008 through 2010.

State Transportation Commissioner Joan McDonald has instructed DOT staff to conduct traffic studies and make improvements around the state, spokesman Bill Reynolds said Wednesday.

"In line with our focus on pedestrian safety, we will be taking a close look at conditions on Sunrise Highway, as we do with all major roadways, and determine what actions need to be taken," Reynolds said.

The ranking of Hempstead Turnpike's 16 miles through Nassau as the region's most deadly roadway for people on foot tracks with Newsday's investigation of the road published last month. The newspaper's analysis of police accident reports found that 32 people were killed and at least 427 injured in 457 pedestrian crashes on the turnpike from 2005 through 2010.

At least three more pedestrians were killed last year. This year, a 72-year-old man died Feb. 15, the day after a car struck him on the turnpike in Elmont. A police spokesman said Wednesday that detectives have not yet found next of kin, so the man's identity has not been released. The driver was not charged.

Two days after Newsday published its findings, McDonald pledged the turnpike would be made safer for pedestrians, directing DOT engineers to devise a list of short-term and long-term improvements.

Some of the changes could include additional red-light cameras, alterations to the roadway to close gaps in medians where vehicles now are allowed to turn, and more pedestrian crosswalk signals, McDonald said then.

Safety is the agency's top priority, Reynolds said Wednesday.

We have already initiated actions to improve the safety of Hempstead Turnpike," he said.

Tri-State's analysis does not include any figures on pedestrian injuries.

Sunrise Highway -- especially in Suffolk County -- also has often appeared in Tri-State Transportation's deadliest-roads report.

Sunrise Highway, also known as Route 27, is different in character from Hempstead Turnpike. While also a heavily trafficked east-west arterial road, it does not bisect as many small downtown areas as does the turnpike, and long stretches of Sunrise in Nassau include a median. In Suffolk, Sunrise Highway is akin to a divided parkway, with a low-rise guiderail as a divider.

Hempstead Turnpike, also known as Fulton Avenue in Hempstead Village and Conklin Street in Farmingdale, extends about 2 miles into Suffolk until it ends into Wellwood Avenue.