When Ana Almontes heard about the crash on Great East Neck Road in West Babylon that killed three people, including local teenagers, on September 21 Riley Goot And Bella TrezzaHe was heartbroken for their families, but not surprised by the final collision.

Almontes, 65, lives about a quarter-mile south of the same stretch of road known among residents for speeding and crashing vehicles. In July, an SUV went out of control and driven into next door neighbor’s living room.

Almontes said he was afraid to fall asleep downstairs because he was afraid a vehicle would crash into the wall.

“This place is very, very dangerous,” he said in Spanish, adding that at least three cars had crashed into his front yard since he moved there in 2001.

Great East Neck Road, a half-mile thoroughfare between Little East Neck Road and Montauk Highway, had 284 crashes at and near its intersections between 2019 and 2022, resulting in 109 injuries, according to state Department of Transportation data. The latest crash that killed the teens was the third fatal crash at the road’s intersection with Railroad Boulevard since the beginning of 2023.

Experts say it often takes a tragedy to eliminate long-standing road hazards. In recent weeks, a group of West Babylon residents began a letter-writing campaign to urge Suffolk County to make physical changes to deter speeding and increase visibility on the road.

Even before the latest fatal crash, some residents were calling for safety measures. Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer forwarded a letter from a resident to county transportation officials and legislators calling for changes to Great East Neck Road 47 days before the crash that killed Goot and Trezza, according to town email records.

In the weeks since that crash, the county has announced plans to install more signage and rumble strips and examine other potential changes. The county also said it has asked Suffolk police to increase enforcement in the area.

But some residents say the county’s efforts are too little, too late.

“They’re putting a little Band-Aid on the bullet hole,” said Michael Rosenberger, a local parent and leader of the changes’ letter-writing effort — some of which, like audiotapes, were completed earlier this month.

Newsday spoke with traffic experts and community members who identified speeding as a major problem and said speeders should be deterred with more physical changes that force them to slow down. They opted for a variety of additional measures to make the corridor safer, from speed cameras to road medians, new signals and pedestrian crossings.

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

County Executive Ed Romaine said in a statement that the Suffolk Department of Public Works “responded as quickly as possible and listened to local elected officials and the community to ensure their concerns were heard, and we are taking action…addressing this emergency.” It’s a community issue.”

A busy road where speeding is common

Home to two schools and numerous homes, Great East Neck Road is a busy thoroughfare for commuters as well as truck traffic to and from a county sanitation facility on the South Shore. There are two lanes running north and south in both directions, as well as a turn lane that an ATV rider used during a reporter’s recent visit to wheelie and perform other tricks in the middle of traffic.

Although the speed limit is 30 mph, the road’s wide lanes and open feel make it easier for drivers to go faster, experts say. In 2019, the most recent year for which DOT data is available, 15% of southbound drivers were going faster than 47 mph (Although the speed limit was 40 mph at the time, the county did not respond to questions about when the speed limit was lowered.) There were more than 350 red light violations per month in 2021, According to district data From five red light cameras on Great East Neck Road.

Residents say the intersection with Railroad Boulevard, one of the most dangerous roads, is bordered to the north by two overhead railroad trestles that make it difficult to see traffic signals and the roadway.

There have been three accidents in the area around the trestles in the last two years, killing five people; This includes a crash in September that killed three people.

Eileen O’Hara, 78, died on January 21, 2023, when she was struck by a northbound car while crossing Great East Neck Road as a pedestrian. According to her son James, the retired school aide and grandmother were returning from an evening service at a nearby church. Suffolk police said there have been no arrests in the crash.

On August 5, 63-year-old driver Thomas Parietti was killed when he crossed into the north to southbound lanes and crashed into some trees near the railroad trestle. According to his daughter’s statement, the accident was caused by a heart attack.

Then, around 1:06 a.m. on Sept. 21, Michael Desmond of Lindenhurst drove his 2017 Kia sedan eastbound on Railroad Boulevard and ran a red light, colliding with a 2025 Kia Seltos heading south on Great East Neck Road. Desmond, 33, and Goot, 18, died the same night. 17-year-old Trezza died four days later.

Newsday has filed public records requests for Suffolk police investigative files on fatal crashes.

County received warning before latest fatal crash

After the SUV crashed into the house in July, local resident Chris Graham wrote a letter to Schaffer, the town supervisor, drawing attention to the speeding problem.

“Please help us not just do a study, but make a REAL change in traffic conditions on Great East Neck Road, so we can continue to keep our community safer as traffic increases,” Graham wrote.

On August 5, after the next fatal crash, 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 staff.

Suffolk County shared the proposed changes with Schaffer on Oct. 9. These included new and upgraded rumble strips, additional 30 mph signs, digital feedback signs, arrow signs for curves and a signal warning sign in front of the Railroad Street intersection.

Schaffer said he appreciated the “district for their quick response.”

But Rosenberger, an attorney, said the county should have taken action sooner.

“They could have and should have taken action. This might have prevented the (September) accident,” he said.

Experts and community members call for additional measures

Steve Maucere, a parent whose children knew some of the teens killed in September, said Suffolk County police stepped up patrols after the crash.

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

But Maucere said the county needs to do more to increase visibility on Railroad Boulevard, including installing additional signals in front of railroad trestles.

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

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

James O’Hara, whose mother was killed last year, told Newsday he would like to see more crosswalks along the road. His mother, who lives nearby and does not drive, was struck while crossing a section of road with a quarter-mile between crosswalks.

Elissa Kyle, placemaking director for Northport-based Vision Long Island, which advocates for walkable streets, said she suggested narrowing lanes on Railroad Boulevard — installing a tree-lined median, for example — to make drivers feel less comfortable going fast.

“If the road is completely open and there are no obstacles, then (drivers) will feel comfortable going faster,” Kyle said.

Carl Berkowitz, an independent traffic engineer based in Moriches, said the rumble strips the county installs are not always effective in reducing speeds.

“What makes this better than anything else is the speed cameras,” he said.

There are no speed cameras on Great East Neck Road. only allowed in certain highway work zones according to state law. County red light cameras, installed in 2013, cannot catch speeders unless a driver turns on the light.

And Suffolk County announced it will end its red light program on Dec. 1. state lawmakers did not extend the program In the last legislative period and Failure of the Suffolk legislature Delivering a “home rule message” to the state Legislature supporting the extension.

While he respects Suffolk’s leadership, Berkowitz said the county’s initial fixes were not based on comprehensive research.

“Someone needs to do a really intensive study of this area… I don’t think you want to make a recommendation without doing an in-depth traffic engineering study,” he said.

A community comes together

Setha Low, who leads the Public Space Research Group at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York, said public efforts to reshape roads often follow a tragedy like the crash in September.

“The issue is what brings the public to the issue and engages them in conversations about how they feel about public space,” he said.

Rosenberger sees the letter-writing campaign, as well as an effort to distribute yard signs encouraging drivers to slow down, as one of many ways the community is responding to September’s fatal crash. Local businesses and sports leagues also held fundraisers for the victims’ families.

“The community has really come together around this,” he said.

with Arielle Martinez