Narrow Lanes, Constant Merges, Difficult Left-Hand Turns Plague Route 25

New York State Route 25, part of which is Smithtown's Main Street, has long been known as a dangerous road.

There are more deaths on Route 25 than on the LIE and all of Long Island's other parkways combined, gaining the road a spot in the "The Island's Deadliest," a series published by Newsday in 2003.

In 2009, 11-year-old Courtney Snipes was struck and killed by a hit and run driver on East Main Street in Smithtown. Two years earlier, eight-year-old Amanda Dinnigan was involved in an accident on Route 25 in Smithtown that left her a quadriplegic.

A U.S. Census Bureau survey from 1997-2008 found that Smithtown averaged 16 more accident-related deaths per year than the general New York area. New York had on average 23 accident-related deaths each year, while in Smithtown accident-related death rate hovered around 39 deaths.

In addition to Route 25, two other major roads are equal culprits in contributing to accidents in Smithtown. One is Route 25A, or North Country Road, which merges with Jericho Turnpike. The other is Route 111. These three roads all merge in a Bermuda Triangle like effect in the Village of the Branch, located in Smithtown.

Narrow lanes, constant merges and the ability to make left hand turns into oncoming traffic anywhere contributes to the danger on Route 25. Left-hand turns led to about one third of the accidents from 1996-2000, according to the "Long Island's Deadliest" project.

Drivers from the Queens area all the way out to eastern Long Island have had to bear the tough conditions of this merciless road. It runs parallel with the Long Island Expressway, which leads to even more congestion on this already thin road.

According to Eileen Peters, spokeswoman for the NYS Department of Transportation Region 10, improvements are underway.

"As part of this safety improvement project [NYSDOT] has already installed high visibility cross walks, increased pedestrian crossing time and installed additional pavement markings," Peters said. The funding for this project came from Region 10's annual capital construction program and further improvements are being planned for the fall of 2010.

"These improvements will better alert drivers and help improve motorists' and pedestrians' compliance with the rules of the road," she said.

Have a complaint about Route 25 or the construction taking place on it? Tell us in the comments.