Safe left turns elude Holbrook intersection

It's time to revisit an issue left unfinished in March:

That's when we reported on an intersection in Holbrook that had undergone a redesign but was left without a left-turn signal.

Furrows Road had been widened, with new right- and left-turn lanes, but a safe left turn onto Patchogue-Holbrook Road remained impossible, reader William Toran told us.

Suffolk County said the number of left-turn accidents there weren't sufficient to warrant a turn signal. To determine where turn signals are needed, the county relies on guidelines from the Institute of Transportation Engineers Manual of Traffic Signal Design, which say at least four left-turn crashes a year are necessary at one approach, or six in two years.

The county would not tell us how many such accidents had occurred at the intersection. A total of 53 accidents of all kinds have been reported there in the past four years, according to Suffolk County police.

To find out how many involved left turns from Furrows onto Patchogue-Holbrook Road, we requested copies of the accident reports. The results:

Six left-turn accidents since 2009, far short of the bar set by the guidelines.

Three such accidents were reported in 2010, two in 2012 and one so far this year. The most recent occurred on Jan. 23, when a BMW trying to make a left turn struck the driver's side of an oncoming car.

Holbrook resident Joanne Wojdylo, who has lived on a corner of the intersection for 24 years, said she, too, had been surprised when no left-turn signals were added. But she thinks blame for most crashes lies with speeders.

"To me, they are the biggest culprit," she said. "Many drivers will accelerate to try to get through the light."

The reports revealed the largest accident categories were rear-ending (18) and running red lights (7).

Wojdylo, who contacted Newsday after she saw the March story, said drivers have crashed onto her property four times since she moved there in 1989, most recently on July 19 when an eastbound car ran a red light, causing a northbound van to veer off the road and into her fence.

We spoke to Insp. Aristides Mojica, the commanding officer of Suffolk's Fifth Precinct, about her concerns and the crash patterns. He said rear-end accidents and going through red lights aren't always a function of speed and the intersection isn't considered a "high-crash location" compared with others. Route 112 and Woodside Avenue in Brookhaven has the highest accident volume in the precinct.

He has asked officers to boost patrols at the intersection. "I'll let my staff know this concern is out there and to pay more attention," Mojica said.