Brooks calls for Southern State Parkway safety study in N. Merrick

Senator, Assemblywoman Solages call for DOT to look at accidents on parkway

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Joined in front of the North Merrick Fire Department by several local firefighters, as well as Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, 8th District Sen. John Brooks called on Sunday for the state to look into making the Southern State Parkway safer.

“Far too many lives have been lost on the Southern State Parkway,” said Brooks.

Brooks and Solages’s announcement came just days after a single-car accident westbound on the parkway in North Merrick.

The design of the Southern State Parkway has remained largely unchanged since the first section of the parkway opened in 1927. Outdated engineering and configuration of entrance and exit ramps and their corresponding signage have made the parkway one of the deadliest highways on Long Island, according to Brooks’s office.

A 2016 study by the State Department of Transportation found that within a five-year span, more than 10,500 accidents occurred on the Southern State Parkway, over 3,000 of which involved injury, and 32 were fatal.

Brooks and Solages said that they are pushing new legislation directing the DOT to conduct a study of the parkway. 

 A fatality occurs every other month on the Southern State Parkway, largely due to antiquated exit and entrance ramps and poor signage, and the legislation is intended to identify solutions and correct problems to prevent collisions and the instances of wrong-way drivers on the Parkway, according to Brooks.

“This study would evaluate design and safety of entrance and exit ramps and the visibility of signage, while identifying federal funding that may be available for highway safety improvements,” he added. “The configuration of ramps and signs on the parkway pose a serious risk to drivers, and a study is needed in order to assess these problems so that we can modernize and upgrade the parkway.”

“Many fatal accidents have occurred on the Southern State Parkway in Nassau and Suffolk counties due to its outdated engineering,” agreed Solages. “In order to increase driver safety and save lives, New York state must take a comprehensive approach to the Southern State Parkway. This legislation addresses this issue by conducting a study with the intention of updating the design and configuration of signage.”

  “All Long Islanders and their families should have the assurance that they are safe when traveling on our roads,” Brooks concluded.