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Suffolk Notebook: County to Reinvent Roadways

Bill makes safety for all modes of transport a key goal in designing new roads.

Suffolk County's dubious distinction of having some of the most dangerous roads in the state has led the Suffolk County Legislature to approve a bill meant to make new roads safer for all sorts of travelers.

The "Complete Streets Program" will require the county's Department of Public Works to consider ways to accommodate not just cars on the roads, but to design features for other modes of transport including bicyclists, buses and pedestrians.

"This bill sets the tone for Suffolk County when it designs its roadways. Now we must look to accommodate all users. Complete Streets is a smart program that should enhance the quality of life for everyone," Legis. Rob Calarco, D-Patchogue, said in a statement.

Suffolk County is already seeing one major roadway fix underway, a state-run project to convert Route 347 on the North Shore into a "greenway," which includes things such as bus stops and paths for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Suffolk IDA Offers Sandy Assistance

The county's Industrial Development Agency this week promoted a program to give tax relief to businesses struggling to pay for repairs to storm-damaged storefronts.

The program gives a tax break from state and county sales taxes to up to 200 businesses that have a physical storefront – not home-based – and suffered damages from Superstorm Sandy.

The tax break would extend for up to 6 months and the savings must be used to offset building costs related to repairs.

To be eligible, businesses may also have up to 50 full-time employees.

For more information, call 631-853-4802.

Andrew December 8, 2012 at 10:12 pm
Agreed. It's just like the millions of dollars they're proposing to spend on a bike path in port Jeff. Waste, waste, waste that we will be on the hook for.
jared December 8, 2012 at 11:27 pm
i just have to say, i have never seen anybody even use these bike lanes....
AJ December 9, 2012 at 01:24 am
you mean more welfare, free cheap stuff that everyone else pays for and multi-level housing like projects ...forget it you want diversity, get a good job and buy any house you can afford. No more funding of anything time for all races to stand on there own 2 feet....stop living for the handouts!
Nesconset Dude December 9, 2012 at 05:21 am
Paul - I've been asking that very question myself. Burying the power lines would have been a step in the right direction, but I guess that's just another project to be paid for down the line.
Boo December 9, 2012 at 01:30 pm
Improve the bike lanes and buses for all the illegal immigrants I guess.
Alex Hanson December 9, 2012 at 01:48 pm
It has little to do with road improvement.
Ranger Sewer December 9, 2012 at 02:33 pm
Where did all the TAX MONEY go that took care of them? Follow that and you will find that it's easier to collect taxes at the point of a gun then it is for the county to spend less.
And they wonder why people leave Long island and even NY when the GOVERMENT is turning it into nothing more then a 3rd world slum and they are the kings.
James Partlow December 9, 2012 at 03:54 pm
Why not improve bus lines so more people use them.I live in Saint James village and there is no bus service.There are plenty of senior citizens that would use it.
Faustina December 9, 2012 at 04:15 pm
I see that the County has not included designing roadways to accommodate caravans of 5,000+ ton semi-trailer delivery trucks and that is what will be headed this way if the Town Board okays the mega King Kullen and "shopping center" at the corner of Cty Rd 39 & Magee Street in Tuckahoe. How can they talk about "safety" without talking about the trucks. Welcome to Commack.
diamond December 9, 2012 at 05:38 pm
When they redid rte 112 they had the perfect time to bury the electric lines ,instead they moved all of the poles . What a waste of money and no plannimg for the future at all. Diamond
James A. vaugh n December 9, 2012 at 06:40 pm
Agreed! Why spend money that we don NOT have! Start cutting expenses now to have funds for the future.
John Quirk December 9, 2012 at 07:36 pm
Take a look at West Shore Road in Oyster Bay and you'll find the same problems . Nassau County is not abiding by New York State D.O.T safety standards. God forbid someone dies on the road and Nassau County will be held liable!
pbug56 December 9, 2012 at 08:03 pm
The 347 project is a huge money pit that accomplishes little except to line the pockets of the contractors. It COULD have made huge improvements in safety and capacity by converting many major intersections to cloverleaf but it isn't. It could have split it into express and local lanes (with access to side roads and stores) but it didn't. It is a nauseating example of government at its worst!
Supershafts.com December 9, 2012 at 09:05 pm
Lmao rt 112 is absolute joke, redesign, they added a damned flower box in the middle instead of making it flow more traffic.
Idiots vote for idiots, so really who is to blame for the stupidity of this island, everyone complains and then votes for the same bunch of jerk offs. You did it, keep voting for empty headed asshats. .
Christopher D'Antonio December 10, 2012 at 02:53 am
Just to offer a minor correction, the project to reconstruct Route 347 is being conducted and paid for by the New York State Department of Transportation, not Suffolk County.
mary wellbourne December 10, 2012 at 02:56 am
If this is state money rather than county money than this really nuts considering how much NEW YORK IS IN THE RED.Governor Cuomo please govern and make better choices with our tax dollars
pbug56 December 10, 2012 at 03:01 am
Yes, it is our state tax dollars going down the drain for no good reason. Though it could have been a helpful project.
mary wellbourne December 10, 2012 at 01:57 pm
That's even worst didn't Cuomo just tell us how bad are finances are in NYS....This is DUMB LETS TIGHTEN OUR BELTS AND PAY DOWN OUR DEBT RATHER THAN PROJECTS LIKE THIS...MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
Nesconset Dude December 10, 2012 at 04:11 pm
I'm not sure what you folks want to see your tax money go into. Perhaps other peoples' pockets? This is they type of improvement that will have long-term benefits, not only to traffic. Have you noticed all the new recharge basins? There are sections of the area that experience flooding around home, this will help alleviate part of that problem. Read up on the full intent/purpose of this project, it's not just about making traffic move better on Route 347. Then again, who in the world would want that, right?
Henry Powderly (Editor) December 10, 2012 at 06:15 pm
Thanks. I have clarified. I only meant to suggest that the project was happening in Suffolk, but I see why people inferred it to mean a county project. Yes, 347 redo is a state project.
pbug56 December 10, 2012 at 06:18 pm
The problems with 347 are poor traffic flow and dangerous intersections. This absurd project will do little to help either one, but yes, we get some pretty flower boxes - probably maintained for only the first year, out of this huge money pit.
BTW, originally the plan was right on, but NIMBYism and corruption destroyed it.
Stinker December 10, 2012 at 06:37 pm
I'm glad the pols had to make a bill to agree that safety on the roadways is a priority. Thank God for our political representatives. They are so magical they will now reinvent the roads because the last ones they invented weren't so safe. We are not worthy.
Nesconset Dude December 10, 2012 at 09:27 pm
Can you please elaborate which portions of this project were destroyed? I've seen the plans, as far as I know nothing has changed.
pbug56 December 10, 2012 at 09:46 pm
Most of the cloverleaf intersections were removed, pretty much anything that would have improved safety and traffic movement. For instance, we badly need a grade separated intersection where 347 and 455 merge / separate. That was removed from the plan. There should have been cloverleafs at 25, 97 and several more, now most of that is gone. And even where not gone, they are late in the game. The work should have started at 25, the worst spot on 347. And the flowerpots are a huge, bad joke, and will eventually be massive eysores.
Don't Tread on Me December 10, 2012 at 09:49 pm
Educate yourself on UN Agenda 21. It is all there.
http://www.independentsentinel.com/2012/12/iclei-agenda-21-consumes-suffolk-county-long-island/
EdMang December 10, 2012 at 10:33 pm
Oh. Dear. GOD. Were you dropped on your head often as a child?
Nesconset Dude December 11, 2012 at 03:36 am
Haha...If there's any truth to that article, how does it make you feel about so-called NIMBY's now? LOL!
Goin' Commando December 11, 2012 at 04:01 am
Oh, my, the UN Agenda 21 canard again; we might as well get back to the news:
The Joseph Goebels News Network has reported that the US State Department has signed a treaty with the Romulans, and pledged that all white males between the ages of 18 and 65 will serve two year terms in the Blue Helmet Forces of the Romulan Empire. On that basis Glenn Breitbart, lead anchor for Goebels, has theorized that this means that Obama will now release the five Klingons, who someone's fourth cousin in Charlston claimed are being held in Area 51, to the Gamma Sigma terrorist brigade based on the planet Alderaan. The fact that the twelve captured Klingons, part of the Klingon invasion force which the Obama-led US Armed Forces has been unable to locate, are now being granted preferred work-visa status by Obama's left-wing Immigration and Nationalization Service, is cited by other unidentified sources as proof that socialism now exists in this country. Once those fifty-seven Klingons receive their visas, it is expected that they will take over the public library system in the United States, thereby rendering everyone not now watching Goebels News as clueless as those who do.
Walter Isaacs December 11, 2012 at 04:56 am
Yes, and we will all be so preoccupied by this that we will not properly examine the birth certificate or college transcripts. It was all planned. Welcome December 21, when the Mayans will be proven correct.
Jim December 11, 2012 at 06:33 pm
What are even talking about????

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Tc June 18, 2013 at 04:59 pm
Justme.. Even if everyone voted no the raises were locked. By voting no programs would have beenRead More decimated more and more teachers given pink slips. The problem here is the BOE giving the union these contracts. It's time to STOP THE MADNESS!!
JJ Smith June 18, 2013 at 07:04 pm
And the candidate for the BOE ran unopposed. We have no to blame but ourselves.
justme June 19, 2013 at 06:52 am
Yes TC change is difficult but it has to start somewhere. What motivation does the BOE have toRead More change when we keep passing the budgets? Budgets have to fail, programs have to be cut before there will be any union negotiations. Many have to lose their jobs before they will allow their pay to be cut. Sounds harsh but it's reality. Our children will survive cuts, be educated and successful - even with less programs.