Assistant Principal Cathleen Potorski wants a traffic light to help students cross Wantagh Avenue.
I am the assistant principal at Island Trees Memorial Middle School in Levittown and for 25 years I have been writing to legislators regarding the unsafe traffic conditions in front of our school on Wantagh Avenue near Hempstead Turnpike.
It’s dangerous. The speed limit is 30 and the traffic moves much faster. It is nearly impossible for students to cross the street. Sometimes, the cars often do not even stop for the crossing guard who has been struck twice.
We need a flashing yellow light in front of our school with a push button for pedestrians to turn the light red, but we’ve been told it would cost $100,000 and there is no funding for it.
Wantagh Avenue is a busy four-lane street as we saw on a recent weekday. Some drivers were reluctant to stop for crossing guard Theresa Joseph and beeped at her as she stood in front of them with her hand up, or drove around her.
But whether or not assistant principal Potorski is successful in her quarter-century quest for a traffic light depends on Nassau County, which controls all traffic devices between Queens and Suffolk.
Deputy County Executive Ian Siegel, who oversees parks and public works, said based on the last traffic study in 2000, the county decided a traffic light wasn’t needed. However, Siegel said a new survey will be done before the end of the school year. “We’re going to restudy it," he said, and the county will base its decision on traffic volume, accident rates in the area and pedestrian traffic.
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Comments (13)
Kate Murray is busy putting up ball fields all over Wantagh Avenue to help contribute to the congestion and dangerous illegal parking but does nothing to help out with a traffic light for the school?????
there is no reason to put a traffic light at the school - there is a light about 50 yards away at the corner of straight lane and wantagh avenue. students can walk a few feet to cross wantagh avenue there. there are enough traffic lights on wantagh avenue south of hempstead tpke as it is, and if the school is concerned they should ask the police to monitor the area instead (which they often do).
NO TRAFFIC LIGHT...
There is a traffic light 100 ft south of school property, at the intersection of Straight Lane and Wantagh Avenue. There is another traffic light 500 ft north of school property, at Hempstead Turnpike and Wantagh Avenue.
Utilize the existing traffic lights and remove the the crossing in front of the school. If this pedestrian crossing is so dangerous then why not remove it.
Use NCPD Officers/ AMTs and teachers to educate the dangers and fines for students crossing Wantagh Avenue illegally.
Click here for a Birds-eye view of the school and intersections:
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qsmdbk8w7p2d&style=o&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=21297211&encType=1
or here on google maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=straight+lane+and+wantagh+avenue&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.160552,79.892578&ie=UTF8&ll=40.72251,-73.498385&spn=0.007741,0.019505&t=h&z=16&iwloc=addr
Kate Murray didnt put those baseball fields all over Wantagh Avenue, they've been there long before Murray and go back to the building of Levittown.
how about more cops on wantagh avenue and especially in front of the school. the way people drive today is out of control. i have seen way too many people doing over 60 on that road.
there is no reason for that, put the cops on that road and watch how many tickets they write. maybe then people will slow down
More cops in the area would be great.In response to the two people who posted no traffic light necessary (ellby and ryan) your statement "If this pedestrian crossing is so dangerous then why not remove it" and have the kids cross where? The light at Hempstead Turnpike and Wantagh Avenue is a main intersection, which if you have children I'm sure you would not want them crossing at that location. Not only is this a prime light for people running the red or speeding up on the yellow, this is also an mta bus stop on both the east and west side of the Turnpike. Not to mention being that far from the school would make these kids prime targets for possible abductions. There are several sex offenders living in the area. The intersection light at Straight Lane and Wantagh Avenue has no break in traffic flow. If your coming off of Straight Lane your allowed to make a right on red thus keeping the traffic moving with little break. Plus the cars ignore kids crossing and make the right while these kids are standing in the middle of Wantagh Avenue trying to get across. Ive been beeped at for letting kids cross because the person behind me wants to turn, seriously why would a motorist care if a kid is trying to cross just so long as they make the light and get where they need to go. Hey its not your kid in the middle of the road! A light in front of the school would be a perfect way to slow down traffic and keep the kids/parents and our crossing guard safe. One more point, I've also seen the crossing guard herself almost get hit trying to stop cars so the kids can cross. Hopefully Mrs. Potorski will suceed in getting this done. Island Trees is very lucky to have her as she truly cares about the well being of the students.
you do know that if nassau county puts a light directly in front of the school it will be placed north of the current crosswalk at Hawk lane...the county will not build a 100,000 traffic light only for pedestrians
-building a traffic light at hawk lane will have the same problem as you stated at straight lane...adding a no turn on red when pedestrians are present would help make the intersection alittle safer along with adding more time for pedestrians to cross (which is not that hard or expensive to do) AND move the crossing guard to this intersection at straight ln
-sex offenders? where do they live?...state law says they cant live 1,000 ft from the school...the intersection of straight and wantagh ave is only 100 ft from school grounds...
-"far away from the school would make them prime targets"? what the heck are you talking about? if the student is walking from school to home they can be a target at ANY time ...
- the hempstead turnpike traffic lights already have crossing guards there, i dont know how you can make it any safer.
Placing cops there is only a temporary solution...people will ALWAYS SPEED...just a fact of life nowadays...not to mention you cant have cops there every school day, morning and afternoon.
I drive that stretch of wanagh ave. everyday and i always see ncpd around...plus the 8th precinct is only 1/2 mi up the road
Traffic light or not most people drive through school zones over the limit with reckless disregard. That particular one is no exception. I've seen, on more than 1 occasion, a police car speeding through it.
Also look at the situation around MacArthur -- parents letting children off across Jerusalem and having them cross against the traffic.
The same goes for parking around schools. I see it in every neighborhood, for instance the Broadway school on Seaman's Neck road north of SS parkway. NO PARKING signs the length of the front of the school, yet every day parents park and double park to drop and collect the children. Often the crossing guards are also illegally parked and NCPD police car 814 is right there ignoring it all.
Do you really want a safer environment for the kids? Have more than 1 day a year radar trap in front of Island Trees school. Have a steady dose of enforcement to convey the idea to the drivers of this county.
Putting more cops there makes no sense. We pay cops on average 150K year. So you want to post a cop there instead of paying 100K once?
If your child was a walker, would you want them to have to walk an extra 100 yards in rain and fowl weather to cross at a light?
People drive like animals down Wantagh avenue, they fly down at speeds far greater that 40 MPH.
Putting a light that is blinking yellow and turns to a red light during school hours will only affect the morning commute hours, that school gets out at 3PM. There will be some limited foot traffic in the afternoon due to after-school activities.
Lastly, during evening events, that area is extremely dangerous and demands a light.
I hope that all of you who oppose a light will be able to sleep nights if god forbid, a child gets stuck by some stressed out commuter flying down that street at 50!!!
I think a pedestrian light would work. But if the county is unable to see the need for a crossing light and/or is unwilling to spend the money to protect the school children then maybe they need to re-evaluate the existing lights to make them safer for the children to cross. Maybe putting a No Right on Red sign when pedestrians are present @ Straight Lane and Wantagh Ave. Also using crossing guards @ both of the existing lights on school days for extra safety. If any of the children that were crossing Wantagh avenue belonged to the officials in charge of decidng about the light we all know it would have been done already. The safety of the children in the district should always be first and formost on everyones agenda.
i think they should put a traffic light by itmms becasue u never no a kid can get hit and we do not want that to happne we need a traffic light
In response to Elby who wrote :" there is no reason to put a traffic light at the school - there is a light about 50 yards away at the corner of straight lane and wantagh avenue. students can walk a few feet to cross wantagh avenue there. there are enough traffic lights on wantagh avenue south of hempstead tpke as it is.." I am assuming your children, if you have any, do not attend that school. I have personally witnessed a child almost hit SEVERAL times while trying to cross that street. The problem is, children attend after school activities, and the crossing guard is gone by the time their activities end. So unless there is a flashing light or a speed trap, children will always be at risk. The children who cross that street and attend IT High School do not even have a crossing guard, as I was told when I called the 8th Precinct, "she's not there for the High School." So I guess it's ok if your 14 year old gets hit by a car.