Speeding is concern on Conklin Street, residents, officials say

Conklin Street in Farmingdale, where a crash early Saturday killed four people and injured three others, has drawn complaints about speeding for years, elected officials said.

Police are working to determine the cause of the crash and whether speed was a factor.

But Farmingdale Mayor Ralph Ekstrand and state Sen. Kemp Hannon said it's a chronic concern. Conklin is a flat straightaway where drivers speed west after turning off Route 110, Ekstrand said. "I routinely see people go 60 to 70 miles an hour between Route 110 and Main Street, where this accident occurred," Ekstrand said. The posted speed limit is 40 mph.

Ekstrand said he will write a letter this week to the state Department of Transportation regarding speeding and safety on Conklin and Fulton Street, another state road that connects to Route 110. "I would love to see the state do some traffic calming," he said.

A DOT spokeswoman wasn't available for comment Saturday.

Residents have complained that speeding vehicles pose a hazard for pedestrians on Conklin, which cuts through a residential neighborhood and passes a school and St. Kilian Catholic Church.

Kris Fallon, 55, who lives in a condo on Conklin and Prospect Place, said vehicles "come flying around this corner."

Msgr. Michael Flynn, the pastor of St. Kilian, which is about a half-mile from the crash site, led a successful push for the state to install crossing beacons at two intersections on Conklin in 2011.

"There was always a problem with people coming from 110 to Farmingdale," Hannon (R-Garden City) said Saturday. "That whole strip was a speedway. That is a continued problem."