Deadly street: West Babylon neighbors ask for repairs near site where 5 people have been killed since 2023

When Ana Almontes heard about the Sept. 21 accident on Great East Neck Road in West Babylon that killed three people, including local teenagers Riley Goot AND Bella Trezzashe was heartbroken for their families, but not surprised by the latest collision.

Almontes, 65, lives about a quarter-mile south, on the same road that is known among residents for speeding vehicles and accidents. In July, an SUV spun out of control and stuck in her neighbors’ living room.

Almontes said she was afraid to fall asleep downstairs for fear that a vehicle might hit the wall.

“It’s very, very dangerous here,” she said in Spanish, adding that at least three cars have driven into the front yard since she moved in 2001.

On Great East Neck Road, a 2.2-mile arterial road between Little East Neck Road and Montauk Highway, there were 284 crashes at and near intersections between 2019 and 2022, resulting in 109 injuries, according to Department of Transportation data. The recent crash that killed teenagers was the third fatal crash since early 2023 near the intersection with Railroad Avenue.

Experts say it often takes a tragedy to fix long-standing road hazards. In recent weeks, a group of West Babylon residents launched a letter-writing campaign calling on Suffolk County to make physical changes to discourage speeding and improve road visibility.

Even before the recent fatal accident, some residents had called for safety measures. Forty-seven days before the crash that killed Goot and Trezza, Babylon City Manager Rich Schaffer sent a letter from a resident to county transportation officials and lawmakers calling for changes in Great East Neck, according to city email records. Road 47 days before the accident that killed Goot and Trezza.

Within weeks of the crash, the county announced plans to install more signage and warning strips and explore other potential changes. The county said it has also asked Suffolk Police to increase enforcement in the area.

Some residents, however, believe the county’s efforts are too little, too late.

“They’re just putting a Band-Aid on a bullet hole,” said Michael Rosenberger, a local parent and leader of the change letter-writing effort — some of which, like the rumble strips, had already been completed earlier this month.

Newsday spoke to traffic experts and community members who identified speeding as a serious problem and said speeders should be deterred by major physical changes that force them to slow down. They spoke in favor of a range of additional measures to make the corridor safer – from speed cameras to road separations, new signals and pedestrian crossings.

Michael Martino, a Suffolk County spokesman, did not respond to Newsday’s written questions about the decision on the announced changes or whether a new traffic study had been completed. However, he said in an email that the county “will continue to evaluate” whether additional traffic control devices, traffic signals or other measures are needed.

In a statement, County Executive Ed Romaine said the Suffolk Department of Public Works is “responding as quickly as possible and listening to local officials and the community to ensure their concerns are heard and we take action… a community issue.”

A busy road where speeding is common

Great East Neck Road, home to two schools and dozens of homes, is a busy thoroughfare for commuters as well as truck traffic to and from the district’s South Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant. It has two lanes in each direction, running north and south, as well as a turning lane, which was used by an ATV driver during a recent visit by a reporter, doing wheelies and other tricks in the middle of traffic.

Although the speed limit is 30 miles per hour, experts say the wide lanes and open feel can make drivers feel free to go faster. In 2019, the most recent year for which DOT data is available, 15% of southbound drivers were driving faster than 47 miles per hour (although the speed limit was then 40 miles per hour. The county did not answer questions about when the speed limit was lowered). In 2021, over 350 red light offenses were recorded per month, according to district data from five red light cameras located on Great East Neck Road.

The intersection with Railroad Avenue – one of the most dangerous – is bordered on the north by two overhead railway trestles that make it difficult to see traffic lights and roadways, residents say.

There have been three accidents in the area of ​​the flyovers in the last two years, killing five people, including an accident in September in which three people died.

Eileen O’Hara, 78, was struck and killed by a northbound car on January 21, 2023, while crossing Great East Neck Road on foot. According to her son James, the retired school aide and grandmother were returning from evening mass at a nearby church. Suffolk police said there were no arrests in connection with the crash.

On August 5, 63-year-old driver Thomas Parietti was killed when he veered from the northbound lane into the southbound lane, hitting several trees next to a railway overpass. According to his daughter, the accident was caused by a heart attack.

Then on September 21 at approximately 1:06 a.m., Michael Desmond of Lindenhurst ran a red light in a 2017 Kia sedan east on Railroad Avenue and collided with a 2025 Kia Seltos traveling south on Great East Neck Road. Desmond, 33, and Goot, 18, died on the same night. Trezza, 17, died four days later.

Newsday has filed requests for Suffolk police investigative files related to the fatal crashes.

The county has been issued a warning following the latest fatal crash

After an SUV crashed into a home in July, resident Chris Graham wrote to Schaffer, the city manager, calling attention to the speeding problem.

“Please help us not only conduct research, but also make a REAL change to traffic conditions on Great East Neck Road so that we can continue to keep our community safe as traffic volumes increase,” Graham wrote.

On August 5, after another fatal accident but a month and a half before the crash that killed Goot and Trezza, Schaffer forwarded this email to Charles Bartha, commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Public Works, and other employees.

On October 9, Suffolk County shared the proposed changes with Schaffer. These included new and refreshed lanes, additional 30 mph speed limit signs, digital feedback signs, arrow signs marking curves and a warning signal before the Railroad Avenue intersection.

Schaffer said he commends “the county for its quick response.”

But Rosenberger, who is an attorney, said the county should have acted sooner.

“They could and should have acted. This (September) accident could have been prevented,” he said.

Experts and community members are calling for additional measures

Steve Maucere, a parent whose children knew some of the teenagers killed in September, said it appears Suffolk County police have increased patrols after the crash.

“The police presence is a huge help,” he said.

Maucere, however, said the county should do more, including installing additional signals in front of railroad overpasses to improve visibility on Railroad Avenue.

“You can’t see what’s coming or going. You can’t see what cars are coming from the side because the tracks block the view,” he said.

Rebuilding that signal is one of the options Martino, the county spokesman, said it will evaluate.

James O’Hara, whose mother was killed last year, told Newsday he would like to see more crosswalks on the road. His mother, who lived nearby and did not use a car, was hit as she crossed a stretch of road with a quarter-mile gap between crosswalks.

Elissa Kyle, director of placemaking at Northport-based Vision Long Island, which advocates for walkable streets, said she recommends narrowing the lanes to make drivers on Railroad Avenue feel less comfortable driving fast – for example, by installing a tree-lined median.

“If the road appears wide open and there are no obstructions, drivers will feel comfortable going faster,” Kyle said.

Carl Berkowitz, an independent traffic engineer from Moriches, said the warning signs installed by the county are not always effective in reducing speeds.

“What usually does this better than anything else is speed cameras,” he said.

There are no speed cameras on Great East Neck Road only allowed in certain road construction zones in accordance with state law. The district’s red light cameras, which were installed in 2013, do not catch people speeding if the driver fails to hit the lights.

Suffolk County announced it will end its red light program on December 1. state lawmakers did not extend the program in the last legislative session and Failure of the Suffolk Legislature deliver a “home rule message” to state legislatures supporting the extension.

Berkowitz said that while he respects Suffolk’s leadership, the county’s preliminary findings do not appear to be based on extensive research.

“Somebody needs to do some really intensive research in this area… I don’t think you want to make recommendations without… doing a thorough traffic engineering study,” he said.

The community unites

Setha Low, who directs the Public Space Research Group at the City University of New York Graduate Center, said grassroots efforts to reshape roadways often occur after a tragedy like September’s crash.

“This is an issue that attracts public opinion to this issue and engages them in expressing what they think about public space,” she said.

Rosenberger sees the letter-writing campaign, as well as the effort he is leading to post signs encouraging drivers to slow down, as one of many ways the community is responding to the fatal accident in September. Local businesses and sports leagues also held fundraisers for the victims’ families.

“The community really came together around this event,” he said.

With Arielle Martinez