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pedestrian-bicycle safety

File photo by Heidi Sutton/TBR News Media
By Aidan Johnson

The Port Jefferson Village Board of Trustees held its monthly meeting Tuesday, Sept. 6, to discuss current plans and issues throughout the village.

The meeting started with a reminder from code enforcement chief Fred Leute to drive carefully down the streets. Now that school is back in session, more wet weather and leaves will likely be on the ground.

Trustee Rebecca Kassay announced that she and Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden have been working together to make the village more walkable and bikeable. These efforts will make it easier to travel around Port Jefferson without using a vehicle.

Kassay also shared that she and Snaden have worked to replace dead street trees this fall with more aesthetically pleasing and ecologically friendly ones.

Kassay said they have been meeting to discuss issues regarding uptown parking. “We’ve been looking at hopefully partnering with some of the medical office space uptown so that we don’t have to pave any additional space uptown — and take it from there,” she said.

After concerns were brought up to the trustees about ticks a few months ago, Kassay has been discussing the issue with the Stony Brook University disease center. The village will be putting information on its website and working with local media to spread awareness about the issue, as well as reaching out to schools to see if they can give the items to nurses and coaches. The village has also been offered tick handbooks, tick identification cards and tick removal kits.

Next meeting, Kassay intends to discuss the timeline and action plan for the village to work on flood mitigation.

Kassay also announced that the Beach Street Community Garden program scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 7, has been rescheduled due to inclement weather. The new date is to be determined.

Trustee Stan Loucks announced that the drought Long Island has faced has started to impact the golf course, which has had 300,000 gallons of water put into it every night. 

“Our conditions up there have gotten to the point where some of the fairways were turning brown, so this rain we’re getting today is kind of a godsend,” Loucks said. He added, “All of our water comes out of on-site wells. The wells up at the country club have reached the level where we’ve been put on restricted watering. We’ve only been able to water our greens and tee boxes for the last 10 days or so, so this rain is coming at a perfect time.”

The golf course will be closed this week on Thursday and possibly Friday while the aeration process takes place.

The country club’s early bird program starts on Saturday, Oct. 15. However, the membership rate fees are to be determined.

Loucks also asked that nobody walks down to East Beach, due to the Bluff Stabilization project. Still, he assured everyone that considerable progress had been made already. Snaden would later add that drone footage of the progress is available to view, provided by Charmaine Famularo.

Tennis courts 7 and 8 are still open and will stay open through September and possibly through October.

Loucks said there are plans to build a permanent barbecue on the patio behind the scoreboard on the golf course.

Finally, Loucks shared that the annual village golf outing will be taking place on Thursday, Sept. 22. The outing is open to all village residents, along with anyone who works in the school district, is a member of the fire department or a business owner in the village. The cost of the outing is $50.

Trustee Lauren Sheprow announced the first meeting of the Recreation and Parks Committee would take place on Thursday, Sept. 29.

The next meeting of the Country Club Social/Hospitality Task Force will take place Wednesday, Sept. 14, at Port Jefferson Country Club at 6:30 p.m.

Concluding her report, Sheprow shared that the village’s internal communication audit is still underway. She looks forward to meeting with the other trustees individually to discuss it.

Snaden reported that the Port Jefferson high school homecoming game has been moved to Saturday, Oct. 22, due to an issue regarding the number of football players on the team. The parade will now take place on Oct. 21 at night. Instead of floats, the students plan to decorate their vehicles with lights. Due to scheduling conflicts, there will not be the Caroline Field events that have been held in the past, but Snaden hopes to bring them back next year.

Snaden went on to report that code union negotiations are continuing. Also, the Architectural Review Committee is looking into an application for a new “Sea Creations” sign to be put on the front of the Harbor Square Mall on Main Street. Additionally, St. Charles Hospital wants to build a retaining wall in its parking lot for expansion. 

Mayor Margot Garant reported that the trustees, with members of the planning and zoning boards, attended a walkthrough of the Port Jefferson Crossing Apartments at 1615 Main St., and were very happy with the amenities that they saw. There is also a 3,000-square-foot retail space. 

Station Street is expected to be installed sometime in mid-September. Overall, Garant is happy with the direction Upper Port is taking.

Community members hold up signs on the corner of Route 25A and Miller Place Roadto bring awareness to the dangerous intersection following the death of a local 14-year-old boy. Photo by Kevin Redding

In response to a 14-year-old’s death at a busy intersection, the Miller Place community says enough is enough, and their voices were heard.

Residents from across the North Shore gathered March 26 to push for drastic safety changes at a dangerous road crossing at the intersection of Miller Place Road and Route 25A, where Nico Signore was struck by an SUV while riding his bike with friends last month.

Community members, including Signore’s family and friends, said the intersection should have a red left-turn signal to stop cars from entering the crosswalk when pedestrians are given the signal that it’s safe to walk to the other side. The group also agreed every corner of the intersection should be a no turn on red.

Community members hold up signs on the corner of Route 25A and Miller Place Road to bring awareness to the dangerous intersection following the death of a local 14-year-old boy. Photo by Kevin Redding

On Feb. 23, Signore pushed the crosswalk button, waited for the go-ahead signal to bike across the intersection, and was struck because the northbound driver had a green left turn arrow.

According to Miller Place resident Tammy McGuire, rally organizer and close friend to the Signores, the disastrous layout of the intersection gave the driver an invitation to run him over.

“There’s no reason Nico should be dead,” McGuire said, holding back tears. “We want someone to do something about it before more [people] die. Any parent or community member should want this changed.”

McGuire asked for a moment of silence among the crowd in memory of the beloved Miller Place lacrosse player, and 16-year-old John Luke, who died at the same intersection in May 2015, before leading the residents in a call and response chant.

“What do we want? Change,” the group shouted. “When do we want it? Now.”

Those in the crowd held up signs that read “make Miller Place safe again” and “we demand a full red before anyone else is dead” as passing cars honked in support.

“This corner has been a disaster — this whole section needs to be revamped and they need to do it immediately,” said Angela Campo, Signore’s former religion teacher. “The more time they take for studies, the more lives are lost. The Signore family has been destroyed and this community can’t take it anymore.”

A bear placed in memory if Nico Signore, who was hit by a car, holds a sign that says “make Miller Place safe again,” following the 14-year-old getting hit by a car at an intersection. Photo by Kevin Redding

She held up a sign containing a photo of her former student, adding that he was a beautiful and vibrant boy.

“He never got to live his life and the world is a much more awful place without him,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking.”

Kevin Cantwell, of Sound Beach, said Signore’s death should be the catalyst to get something done.

“Somebody has to figure this out because it’s a safety issue and there’s been proven deaths here,” Cantwell said. “Living in the community for 15 years — seeing this happen, seeing all the accidents, talking to the Miller Place fire department — this [intersection] is a nightmare.”

Back in October, months before Signore’s death, Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai) reached out to the department based on concern from the Miller Place School District about hazardous traffic conditions at the same intersection, where a frequent number of car accidents occurred.

Signore’s death at the intersection prompted a recent request from state Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) to the New York State Department of Transportation to conduct an immediate pedestrian-bicycle safety study along the Route 25A corridor.

LaValle received word from the DOT that it will be making changed to the Miller Place intersection. The agreement included a red turn arrow on Miller Place Road.

“This will prevent cars from turning into the intersection while pedestrians are in the crosswalk,” LaValle said. “Additionally, the DOT will be installing new signs to warn drivers about pedestrians in the crosswalk.”

The changes, according to LaValle, will be implemented in two to four weeks.

“The DOT is in the process of developing long-term recommendations as well that, when implemented, will greatly improve the safety of this intersection,” LaValle said. “It is my deepest hope that these changes will prevent any future loss of life and lower the accident rate in this area.”

Community members hold up signs on the corner of Route 25A and Miller Place Road to bring awareness to the dangerous intersection following the death of a local 14-year-old boy. Photo by Kevin Redding

Stony Brook resident Danielle Algiere said even though she doesn’t know the Signore family, she came out for the simple fact that she’s a mother.

“It doesn’t matter that it happened in Miller Place, any local mother should be out here right now fighting for change,” she said. “He did everything he should’ve, and a flawed system is what got that child killed.”

The Signore family rejected the idea that the red light program had anything to do with Nico’s death, saying just the green arrow did.

“That’s not what this is about,” said Vincent Signore Jr., Nico’s older brother. “The intersection itself needs to be looked into and it’s nice to see a lot of people supporting this and caring about my brother. No family should ever have to go through this.”

All in attendance were encouraged to sign a petition, which help enacted the change, and another was passed around for the Rails to Trails project, to provide a safe, out-of-the-way path for residents to bike on. Also included in that petition was a request to dedicate a portion of the path running through Miller Place to Nico, an avid bicyclist.

“I met with the parents and they want to see a better situation in their community,” Anker said. “I hope if we move forward with Rails to Trails we’ll provide that safe place for our children to enjoy riding their bikes. The Signore family is close to my heart right now.”

This version is updated to include state Sen. Ken LaValle’s response from and about changes made to the intersection by the New York State Department of Transportation.