Gov. Kathy Hochul announces $7 million in Long Island road safety projects

Construction to improve safety at a state parkway exit has begun, while another project at a Long Island intersection will begin this summer, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office and the Department of Transportation jointly announced on Tuesday.

One of the projects, to reconfigure the Southern State Parkway’s Exit 15 at Corona Avenue in Valley Stream, will cost about $3.9 million and is taking place throughout April.

The other project will rebuild parts of the five-way intersection of Jericho Turnpike, Broadway Greenlawn and Dix Hills Road in the Town of Huntington. It will cost $3.1 million and begin in the summer.

The long-planned projects were announced after Newsday launched a yearlong investigative series about crashes on Long Island, which killed over 2,100 people and seriously injured more than 16,000 over a decade.

According to Newsday’s crash map, the area around the Southern State Parkway’s westbound Exit 15, where work is being performed, had nearly two-dozen crashes in 2023 and 2024 — including one fatal crash.

Assemb. Michaëlle Solages (D-Elmont) said in a statement that "for years, residents have voiced concerns about safety and congestion at Exit 15," which handles more than 8,000 vehicles per day.

The DOT will combine the exit’s two separate ramps (one for traffic exiting north and one for traffic exiting south) into one longer ramp, along with modifications to the intersection with Corona Avenue. Those include more turning lanes, an enhanced traffic signal, and new pedestrian infrastructure.

At the other intersection, in Huntington, the DOT will add new turning lanes, upgraded traffic signals and pedestrian crosswalks. That intersection had more than a dozen crashes in 2024, according to the crash map.

These upgrades "will help improve the safety of our roads for both motorists and pedestrians," State Sen. Mario Mattera (R- St. James), who represents that area, said in a statement.

DOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said in a prepared statement that "the improvements to these two busy intersections will streamline traffic flow, reduce delays and, most importantly, enhance safety for both motorists and pedestrians."

Marc Herbst, the executive director of the Long Island Contractors' Association called the projects "small" but welcomed.

"This is, you know, chipping away at the needs that are certainly there in the infrastructure on Long Island," he said.

Both projects combine state funding with federal dollars from the bipartisan infrastructure law passed in late 2021, according to the DOT.

They were included in a five-year regional transportation plan published in 2022, when they were forecast to begin construction in September 2023. However, a change in project scope led to postponement, according to a DOT spokesman.

The DOT said that the improvements are part of its "safe systems approach," a road design strategy aimed at reducing speeds and manipulating the angle of any potential crashes to minimize injuries.

Both projects are expected to be complete by next spring, the DOT said. Exit 15N on the Southern State is already closed off for work; drivers are encouraged to use Exit 16N at Franklin Avenue instead. The work at the Huntington intersection will be conducted at night and during off-peak hours.