A.B. traffic death stirs calls for road upgrades

Gloria Moreira, 56, was killed when she was struck by a bus at the intersection of Park Street and Vernon Avenue in Atlantic Beach on Nov. 4, and the tragedy has sparked reaction from residents who say they want to see cameras installed to deter speeders and sidewalks constructed to ensure pedestrian safety.

Park Street resident Andrew Levy was on the scene just after Moreira, who also lived on Park Street, was killed, and Levy said he has repeatedly asked Nassau County to install sidewalks, beginning well before the accident occurred.

“When it’s raining, you can’t walk out of your driveway unless you walk through a puddle,” Levy said. “[Moreira] tried to cross from her house instead of at the crosswalk, and the way the corner turns, the bus didn’t see her.”

Atlantic Beach Mayor Stephen Mahler said the absence of sidewalks had nothing to do with the accident. “The contention about lack of sidewalks at certain junctures is irrelevant,” Mahler said, “as there is no excuse for not crossing at the intersection crosswalks which are designed for that purpose.”

Speeding is another issue. Tom DiCeglio, an Atlantic Beach resident, said that in either late 2005 or early 2006, the street lights on Park Street were activated, meaning that a car crossing Park from a side street has to trip a sensor for the light to change.

As a result, the lights on Park can remain green for long periods, ultimately encouraging speeding, DiCeglio explained.

“Atlantic Beach is a residential beach community, and the activated lights on Park Street are like ones found in a rural area,” he said. “I understand the need for traffic flow, but not in a residential community.”

The speed limit on Park Street is 15 mph where the road curves and 30 mph on straight sections. Mahler said Park Street is under the county’s jurisdiction, and the county controls the speed limit.

“Our village roads are not main roads, so they are much less trafficked,” he said. “Thus it is not an imposition on traffic flow to post the lower speed, and it makes good sense to keep it that way.”

Mahler said that during his 14 years as the village’s mayor, he has continually expressed his concerns about the lack of traffic monitoring by the police. He also said he has requested that radar be set up on Park Street, at least during rush hour.

“For the most part, the regular commuters from the east of us who blaze through our main roadway to and from their employment should be made wary …,” Mahler said. “In order to accomplish this, the village purchased a radar monitor and donated it for the exclusive use of the sector car assigned to us, but somehow there has always been an incomprehensible reluctance by the police officers in question to engage in employing it on a regular basis.”

Detective Lt. Kevin Smith, commanding officer of the Nassau County Police Department’s Public Information Office, said that using radar during rush hour could be dangerous because there are too many cars on the road, and with drivers slowing down when they see police vehicles, an increased police presence during rush hour could result in accidents.

“I am very proud of the police that perform in Atlantic Beach as well as their commitment and dedication,” Smith said. “The officers are doing their job to help keep the village safe.”

DiCeglio said he called State Sen. Dean G. Skelos’s office and was told a crew had been sent out to time the lights on Park Street. According to DiCeglio, members of Skelos’s staff also noted that several Atlantic Beach residents had called to express their concern about the street. But the lights have not yet been changed, DiCeglio said.

The Nassau County Department of Public Works said it was not aware of a request to time the lights.

Three years ago, in an interview with the Herald, DiCeglio said, “A fatality will occur [on Park Street], and only then will a change be made.”