NY Route 25/25A-Main Street Smithtown Pedestrian Safety Improvements Completed

ALBANY, NY (05/11/2012)(readMedia)-- New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Commissioner Joan McDonald today announced that a series of pedestrian safety improvements on NY Route 25/25A-Main Street in Smithtown have been completed. The improvements are intended to encourage safer, slower driving and better protect pedestrians in the Smithtown Main Street shopping district.

"We moved quickly to provide safety improvements that provide greater protections for pedestrians," McDonald said. "Walkers should feel more secure when crossing and motorists should better understand the need to drive with caution."

NYSDOT's new improvements include:

• Reducing the two westbound travel lanes to a single travel lane and providing a left turn lane at the intersections between NY Route 111 and New York Avenue/Redwood Lane;

• Adding new crosswalks and pedestrian signals;

• Widening and remarking existing crosswalks;

• Providing advanced pedestrian walk signal timing – stopping traffic in all directions to allow pedestrians a chance to start crossing the street before vehicles are given the green light;

• Instituting "rest in red" at Lawrence and Maple Avenues to deter speeding during off-peak hours. This means traffic signals will remain red until a vehicle has pulled up to the intersection, and only at that point will they turn green; and

• Installing "No Left Turn" signs at Singer Avenue and the Branch Shopping Center.

The new safety improvements are a continuation of a series of pedestrian improvements that NYSDOT has been making on NY Route 25/25A-Main Street in Smithtown, which have included the installation of pedestrian countdown timers, parking and vehicle turning restrictions, increased pedestrian crossing time, and a decorative barrier fence to deter mid-block crossings.

NYSDOT will continue to monitor Smithtown traffic and determine whether further enhancements are warranted.

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