Residents of the Hauppauge, Lake Ronkonkoma, Nesconset, and Ronkonkoma areas – primarily – know all too well the inconveniences and dangers of County Route 93 (CR-93), better known as Rosevale and Ocean Avenues.
The cause of concern rises from the section of road that begins at Portion Road and ends at the Long Island Expressway. The top concern of residents, legislators, and engineers for decades has been the “curve,” notorious for its contributions to accidents, injuries, and even fatalities over the years. Residents have reported cars on their lawns and deaths of pets due to high speeds, poor maintenance, and a seemingly-eternal question mark over the best course of action on remediating the curve.
While residents have been in near-unanimous agreement that speeding, visibility, and the deathly “curve” have been problems for decades, they also asserted their outrage at a plan that they speculated would lead to congestion and decreased quality of life, while also pointing out development that would only add more cars to the area.
The DPW tested various road diet methods over the summer by placing cones to close off lanes to test the strain on the road, especially during peak travel hours.
County Legislator Trish Bergin (R-East Islip), whose district encompasses all of the affected roadway, hosted a community forum in conjunction with the Greater Ronkonkoma Civic Association and County Legislator Leslie Kennedy (R-Nesconset). Representatives from the County DPW presented their updated plan with residents’ questions and suggestions in mind.
“Legislator Kennedy and I told the DPW that we and the community want more studies,” said Legislator Bergin. “They did more studies, hired more engineers, and did in-house engineering. They have truly done everything that they can.”
Bergin reminded the crowd of a sobering truth on which nearly all residents of the area can likely agree: there is no win-win scenario in remediating the curve.
“This is not a perfect situation since these roads were built back when people were on horse and buggy,” said Bergin. “Somebody came up with the stupid idea of making the road curve and now we’re trying to make the best of it.”
Legislator Bergin said that she has been aware of the accidents and residents’ complaints and suggestions about the roadway, specifically referencing a truck carrying vehicles that turned over while driving through the curve. Bergin also reminded everyone that Suffolk County has little say when it comes to federal and state safety guidelines and that the County has worked within the lines that have been previously drawn.
“Some of you might be upset with some of the proposed changes, but remember, we have to slow people down,” said Legislator Kennedy. “When we think we’re driving slowly, we’re usually going above the speed limit.”
Niamh Perrotta, Director of Traffic Engineering and Highway Permits, delivered the presentation of the DPW’s plans for CR-93 before the floor was open for community questions and input.
“We have developed an alternative aimed at improving any safety-related concerns along the curve and the intersections,” said Perrotta. “These include slowing down the vehicles entering the curve and reducing the potential for crashes along the curve and corridor.”
Perrotta stated that the updated plan was built on the road diet simulations that took place in late June 2023. The DPW selected two mid-week, good-weather days before the end of the school year to best capture the busiest days of the year and busiest hours of a typical work/school day. Cones were placed between the two lanes along the curve, restricting travel in the outside lanes, from 6:00a.m. to 6:00p.m. and field observations were conducted during peak hours.
Studies were also conducted during peak summer travel and beach hours in July.
“All vehicles queued at the signals cleared the intersections during the green indication. The average reduction of nine miles per hour was seen in the average speed through the curve,” said Perrotta. “We had a minimum increase in travel times. The average travel time northbound was 1 minute and 55 seconds, which was an increase of 25 seconds. And the average travel time southbound was 1 minute and 25 seconds, which was an increase of 15 seconds. After we completed this trial, we adjusted the road diet plans so that now we’re concentrated on just doing the road diet within the curve section.”
To reduce further queuing, the northbound taper will begin after the intersection of Woodlawn Avenue and CR-93 and the two lanes will reopen approaching Kirk Avenue. The southbound taper will begin after the intersection at Kirk Avenue and CR-93 and the lanes will reopen approaching Woodlawn Avenue and Ontario Street.
The crash history found that 22% of reported crashes were sideswipe collisions and 65% were run-off-road collisions. The road diet is said to eliminate sideswipes of vehicles in adjacent lanes around the curve. The shoulder will double the clear zone northbound and southbound, providing more recoverable area for vehicles prior to leaving the roadway, which is expected to reduce off-road crashes.
The plan also implements pavement markings that would shift southbound lane travel slightly east to improve the curvature of the road, as well as SHARDs (Secondary Highway Audible Roadway Delineators), or rumble strips, to alert drivers when and if they leave the travel lane.
Perrotta then outlined the list of implementations deemed by the DPW to be either feasible or infeasible.
Feasible Implementations
1. Police Enforcement of Speed Limit – According to the DPW, requests have been sent to the SCPD for police enforcement as well as mobile speed feedback trailers.
2. New Sidewalk along CR-93 – A new sidewalk is to be installed along the east and west sides of the road where feasible. That project is expected to begin late 2024 or early 2025.
3. Signage – Signage will be upgraded as needed.
4. SHARDs – Rumble strips will be installed on the northbound and southbound lanes along the curve.
Non-Feasible Implementations
1. Speed Bumps and Speed Tables – Both were found to be inappropriate for the roadway type.
2. Speed Camera – According to the DPW, no legislation exists within Suffolk County for speed camera usage.
3. Speed Limit Reduction – While the DPW conducted a speed reduction study, the implementation is not recommended based on federal safety guidelines.
4. Speed Feedback Signs – The DPW has found that such signs have minimal effect on travel speeds, based on previous studies.
5. All-Way Stops and Traffic Signals – The DPW said that signals are not appropriate for speed control as per federal guidelines. The DPW found that a four-way traffic signal would increase conflict points from the existing six to a whopping thirty-two. Visibility issues would also lead to rear-end crashes due to traffic backup during peak hours. A traffic signal is also found to increase delays on mainline and side streets, with up to 1.5 minutes of delay. Travel speeds are also expected to remain unchanged when the signal allows through-traffic along CR-93, defeating the primary purpose of the rework.
6. Mid-Block Crosswalks – Crosswalks were not recommended for the road type as they may lead to an increased pedestrian crash risk.
7. New Guiderails – While guiderails already exist on CR-93, the DPW has found that there are no locations with drop offs, limited clear zones, or roadside obstacles or hazards that require additional guiderails. Additionally, guiderails are fixed objects that cannot be installed indiscriminately, a problem furthered by the close proximity of houses and side streets to CR-93.
8. Roundabout – A largely-requested change by the community, a roundabout was found to be infeasible by the DPW. A projected roundabout would join CR-93’s northbound and southbound lanes, as well as Rosevale Avenue heading south and Cobblestone Court. The DPW found that unbalanced volumes of traffic, namely higher volume in the southbound lanes, will dominate circulating flow and not allow other vehicles to pass through the circle. Consequently, this is estimated to lead to backup and gridlock within the circle, causing delays and blockages for the side streets and through-traffic to the Expressway and Portion Road. A roundabout would be expected to increase delays during peak travel hours and increase rear-end crashes.
Preferred Alternative
1. Close off the outside lanes along the CR-93 curve from travel.
2. Restrict southbound left turns onto Rosevale Avenue.
3. Realign Rosevale Avenue, providing better sight distance and removing the existing weave between Rosevale Avenue and Ocean Avenue.
4. Provide eastbound access onto Rosevale Avenue from Cobblestone Court.
5. Increase the clear zone along the northbound curve and move northbound vehicles away from residence by shifting the curbline outwards.
6. Install SHARDs along the curve to reduce run-off-road collisions.
Some residents expressed their dismay at the proposed restriction of southbound left turns onto Ocean Avenue, as well as proposed adjustments at the intersection of Ocean, Ontario, and Woodlawn. Despite some protests, the meeting was far more civil than last year’s and the results of the DPW’s study seemed to be a reasonable alternative.
Some residents said that speeds and accidents will not be reduced until a speed trap is implemented.
“It won’t stop until you put a speed trap to slow traffic down,” said one Woodlawn Avenue resident. The resident says he has witnessed thirty-nine people die at his section of the curve, including three in front of his house. He also says that the tapering of the lanes will increase the proclivity of drivers to “race to beat the car on the right-hand side,” stating that similar road diets have been done elsewhere resulting in such scenarios.
“There’s really no win-win here,” Lake Ronkonkoma resident Leif Easterson told The Messenger. “This is more or less the best of a bad situation because there’s really no perfect alternative in which everyone will be pleased and speeds and accidents will be reduced.”
Bill Hillman, Chief Engineer of Highway Structures and Waterways, said that the process of implementing the changes will consist of road milling – partial surface removal – drainage repairs, and repavement.
“Anytime you see a traditional resurfacing project, that’s what this is,” said Hillman.
Hillman also said that if the road diet does not work as expected, the lines can be “repainted for the most part.”
“If we hit certain metrics and realize it’s not working, we can quickly get out and find another solution,” said Hillman.
The Suffolk County Department of Public Works can be reached at: [email protected].
