'Deadliest Roads': Schumer Seeks Federal Audit Of LI Roads

NEW HYDE PARK, NY — U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer called for a federal audit of Long Island's most dangerous roads Wednesday in New Hyde Park. He was joined by family advocates for safer roads at a press conference, coming on the heels of a recent analysis showing that Route 25, along with Route 27, were the two deadliest roads on Long Island.

Schumer argued that a federal audit could lead to federal money coming to Long Island for transportation safety improvements.

“This data drives home one main point: dozens of deaths in and around the same place demand we do more to understand what’s going on so we can lower the numbers and subsequently save lives,” he said.

An audit would analyze roads and intersection, and traffic flow, looking for areas to improve, a news release from Schumer's office explained.

Advocates from Families for Safe Streets joined Schumer on Wednesday to call for change.

“My son Andrew should still be alive today, but as long as roads like the Hempstead Turnpike are designed for speed, tragedy after tragedy will continue to occur,” Families for Safe Streets member Diana Alati said.

Alati's 13-year-old son Andrew died while on a bicycle in 2019.

New Hyde Park Village Mayor Christopher Devane also attended Wednesday's press conference.

“The Village of New Hyde Park’s main corridor, Jericho Turnpike, has been the scene of many traffic tragedies. Within the last year, our community has witnessed a triple fatality at one location. Over the last seven weeks, there have been four pedestrians struck in three separate incidents, including a mother and her son, a first-grader, on their way to school," he said.

The most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, analyzed by Newsday, shows that Route 25, also known as Jericho Turnpike and Middle Country Road, saw 62 deaths from 2016 to 2020.

Nassau and Suffolk lead New York State in traffic fatalities, the analysis showed.

Schumer identified several possible avenues to fund a federal audit from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which passed into law last November.