The Town of North Hempstead filed a request for a new traffic sign at 200 S. Middle Neck Road in Great Neck on Thursday, marking a small first victory for a cooperative’s residents.
The move comes after a campaign by Richard Erdey and other residents of the 51-unit cooperative there to improve safety. In a letter and petition to legislators requesting a sign, Erdey described exiting the upper parking lot onto South Middle Neck Road as a safety hazard.
The letter said that drivers race around a curve, which prevents anyone from seeing a car trying to exit the cooperative. In addition, any car trying to get onto South Middle Neck Road “has an extremely limited view of the approaching traffic.”
The letter requested a “Driveway Ahead” sign and said that white crosshatch lines painted in front of the driveway could also help.
“I’m not asking for the road to be redone. The road is OK,” Erdey, an EMS lieutenant for the New York City Fire Department, said in an interview. “I’m asking for the road to be safer, and that’s not such a hard thing to ask for.”
The cooperative’s board said that this has been an issue for a number of years. Board members noted worsening traffic conditions, a litany of near misses and a few accidents, and how fast cars go.
“These guys come up like it’s the Indianapolis 500,” board President Erwin Wolf, 79, said in an interview, noting many travel at least 45 mph in a 30 mph zone.
To alleviate the problem they have sought signs, lines painted on the road, a speed bump, and a mirror atop a telephone pole so they can see cars coming around the curve.
They said the mirror would have been considered a liability, however, because potential glare could harm drivers.
Both Erdey and Wolf described the sign as a first step that could help a bit, but not ultimately solve the issue.
“If three out of 25 slow down, it’s a little something,” Wolf said. “But it’s not an ultimate answer.”
It’s unclear when the sign will be placed.
