Nassau County struggles with backlog of traffic safety complaints

A backlog of complaints about unsafe intersections and roadways throughout Nassau County is hampering efforts to fix the problems and potentially exposing the county to millions of dollars in legal judgments, county legislators and attorneys say. 

Short staffing in the county Public Works Department due to retirements and the competitive job market, the ease with which residents are able to log complaints online, aging roadways with increasing amounts of traffic and accidents caused by misuse of cellphones while driving are fueling the backlog of complaints, county traffic engineers said.

Public Works Department officials are studying about two dozen locations with the most serious problems. Among them is a stretch of Dutch Broadway in Elmont where four Elmont Memorial High School students walking home from school were struck by a car that jumped a curb last year.

But there were nearly 1,300 open complaints as of last month — ranging from requests for large projects to remove traffic lanes or extend sidewalks, to appeals for new signs or pavement markings — and hundreds are languishing on a waitlist, officials said. At the end of 2018, there were 1,184 open requests. 

Legislative Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams said he has been trying for two years to get the county to address speeding and congestion along a portion of Franklin Avenue in Hempstead Village where a new charter school serves hundreds of elementary and high school students.

DPW has installed an electronic speed indicator at the location. But officials said any major improvements will require a full traffic study that could take months or years given the pace at which the department is able to complete them.

“We are aware of the backlog and it’s very concerning. We have all heard from our constituents,” said Abrahams (D-Freeport).

Some legislators and attorneys say inaction on such projects could expose Nassau to personal injury lawsuits and costly legal judgments. 

Among the most costly so far was an $11 million judgment against the county after a jury found the failure to install a left turn signal was partly to blame for a motorcycle accident at the intersection of Shore Road and Harbor Road in Port Washington in 2014. The county was held liable for failing to address multiple complaints from legislators and residents about the intersection.

David Dean, a Manhattan-based personal injury attorney, won $19 million on behalf of his client Roni Kota, 55, of Port Washington, who lost his leg in the accident. Nassau County attorneys recently were able to negotiate a reduced judgment of $11 million and say they intend to appeal the initial verdict. 

In court proceedings, Dean presented dozens of letters spanning three decades calling for a remedy to what plaintiffs argued was a poorly designed intersection. 

Dean says he believes the county is exposing itself legally by not tending aggressively to the work that needs to be done on its roads and intersections. 

"This is a question of human lives — lives of residents of the county. You can't put this anywhere down on the list," Dean said.

"I know the county is further exposing itself legally," Dean said. "The county is required — it must, according to the law — provide roads and intersections that are safe. They have to do that. They can't close their eyes."

Under federal and state law, the county must survey intersections or roadways once complaints are made.

Newsday asked to speak to Nassau County Attorney Jared Kasschau for this story, but the administration of County Executive Laura Curran did not make him available.

DPW traffic officials say they are working to address the backlog, and are on track this year to address about 700 of the 1,284 complaints.

The county's 2019 capital budget allocates more than $3 million for traffic studies. 

But intersection investigations can take from several weeks to multiple years, officials said, and a single work order can involve multiple traffic surveys. In 2018, the traffic department only closed 86 work orders, DPW Commissioner Kenneth Arnold said. 

“It's very easy for people to ask for a request for a traffic study — you think something's not right and you'll request one," said Arnold, whom Curran appointed as DPW commissioner last year.

"But to fulfill that request we are required to do our due diligence no matter what the request says," Arnold said. "Every request needs to be analyzed in the same way." 

Arnold said traffic officials, "are, as always, categorizing the requests to prioritize traffic safety issues so that immediate problems are addressed as quickly and efficiently as possible." 

Arnold, a licensed engineer who has worked for Nassau for more than 30 years, including as special assistant to the DPW commissioner during the administration of former County Executive Edward Mangano, said with the new funding and hiring push he expects significant progress in the next year.

Traffic officials said because of understaffing they were unable to provide a complete list of the 1,284 open work requests.

A key reason for the backlog of complaints in Nassau is an acute lack of engineers and other staff to investigate complaints, according to DPW officials.

There are nine employees in the traffic department, less than half the number during the Mangano administration.

Nassau’s 2019 capital budget funded 41 new hires in DPW, 23 of them immediately. It was unclear how many would be dedicated to the traffic department.

The department has hired two new engineers so far this year, bringing the number of professional licensed engineers who are able to sign off on completed traffic surveys to four, nearly a full complement.

There also are five outside engineering firms on call to help respond to traffic study requests, said Harold Lutz, director of traffic engineering. 

Officials say the vacancies are due in part to retirement incentives for traffic engineers that were offered during the Mangano administration.

"We are responsible for 1,800 traffic signals, 1,200 lane miles, 450 center lane miles of roadway in addition to a traffic center that needs to be manned 24/7," said Lutz. "For me, it's important that we add in-house staff … There's a lot of work and it's all different types of work"

Republican and Democratic county lawmakers say the backlog of traffic complaints remains a serious problem, and that every county legislative district is affected. All 19 members of the legislature are up for re-election Nov. 5. 

Abrahams and other county lawmakers said the county needs to do better. 

“Our responsibility is to appropriate the money," Abrahams said of the legislature. "The only other thing that I would be willing to do is to appropriate more money for outside companies to conduct these studies. The ultimate goal is to use county workers but we are doing our constituents a disservice if we are not making these roads safer for our pedestrians and our motorists, frankly.”

Legis. Carrié Solages (D-Elmont) said DPW officials are, "doing the best they can." But Solages, whose district is along the Queens border, said Nassau can't wait for a tragic accident to address safety issues, particularly in some of the more populous districts like his.

"Of course it can be done faster and more expeditiously — that’s why I’ve become a thorn in their side," Solages said of county traffic officials. 

One of the largest studies is underway in Solages' 3rd District.

Traffic engineers from the county and the private firm Greenman-Pedersen, of Babylon, are examining issues including speeding and unsafe curb cuts and driveways along a five-mile stretch of Dutch Broadway from Franklin Avenue to the New York City border.

The Dutch Broadway study rose to the top of the county's priority list after the four Elmont high school students were struck last Halloween. One of the victims was airlifted to the hospital in critical condition and endured eight surgeries to reconstruct her face, Solages said. The three girls and one boy were between the ages of 15 and 16. 

Afterward, residents packed community meetings demanding the county address their concerns about the stretch of roadway. 

Some fixes have been implemented near where the students were hit, including a 20 mph pavement marking and a speed indicator sign with flashing lights. Also, Solages has secured $900,000 in capital funding for redesign of the road.

But years after the initial complaints and more than six months after the accident, the study of Dutch Broadway continues. County traffic officials say completing the study properly often requires field work during different seasons and times of the day. 

Legis. John Ferretti (R-Levittown) expressed concern that the backlog of complaints countywide could expose Nassau to future lawsuits, particularly for motor vehicle accidents caused by the negligent design, planning or maintenance of roads, streets or highways. 

“Our roads are crumbling and design error lawsuits are piling up,” said Ferretti. “Laura Curran needs to ensure the needed traffic studies are performed, step up and get the show on the road.” 

Curran did not respond directly to Ferretti's comments. But she said in a statement, “After years of neglect to our infrastructure, Nassau County is embarking on the most aggressive road resurfacing plans in a generation. In 2019 alone, we are more than doubling the lane miles we are repaving to over 200 miles.”

Nassau County, with a $3 billion annual operating budget, had a projected deficit of $105 million in 2018.

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.