Two and a half years ago, concerned members of the East Meadow Civic Association (EMCA) implemented a Traffic Safety Task Force to examine roads in the Salisbury area that have a dangerous accident record, including Carman Avenue and Salisbury Park Drive, between Old Country Road and Newbridge Road.

Last year, the Task Force compiled a comprehensive traffic safety report, which most notably cited eight deaths on Salisbury Park Drive from 1990 to 2000. Based on the traffic report, the Task Force submitted 21 safety recommendations to the Nassau County Department of Public Works, as well as the Town of Hempstead, 19 of which were adopted as policy.

Now, two and a half years after the initial report was filed, the Traffic Safety Task Force recently met with Nassau County's police department and Department of Public Works (DPW) to ensure that the changes they were promised had been made and that conditions were improving. Salisbury Park Drive, which winds from Old Country Road in Westbury to Newbridge Road in East Meadow, falls under the jurisdiction of the Town of Hempstead while Carman Avenue, which runs from Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow to Old Country Road in Westbury, is a county road.

Some aspects of the county recommendations were implemented last year. For example, the Town of Hempstead has already installed some larger signal lenses, installed larger speed limit signs, pavement markings and stop bars in the "P" section. In addition, additional speed limit signs and pedestrian signals were erected, yellow clearance intervals and/or the all red clearance intervals for several signals were also increased. The right lanes at the intersection of Salisbury Park Drive and Carman Avenue have also been changed to a right-turn-only lane. The Carman Avenue bus shelter was relocated and new crosswalks were painted.

Since the improvements have been implemented, officials state there has been a decrease in accidents on the road, the police have issued more tickets and conducted more spot checks. The Task Force also discussed additional safety measures that they wanted added, such as a permanent radar indicator. The indicator, as well as additional right turn lanes, should be completed in three to five months.

Peter J. Gerbasi, commissioner for the Nassau County DPW, said, "For the most part, in areas where we could, we are in the process of either finishing a design or processing a work order. These issues will be, in the near future, resolved." Gerbasi added that the county will be raising the light poles and changing the current eight-inch traffic lights to 12-inch traffic lights. "We are working as best we can to make Carman Avenue as safe as possible," he said.

According to Gerbasi, making such roads as Salisbury Park Drive safer is a joint effort. In addition to having engineers who can design a safer road and police who will enforce and regulate the roads, it is also up to the drivers to be more responsible. "The police and DPW can do their part, but if the people aren't doing their part, it's not going to work," said Gerbasi. "Drivers need to pay attention [and] cannot drive recklessly. This is a stool with three legs. If we all work together, we will have a safer road. If we don't, nothing can be done."

Of the changes and the progress that has been made so far, Robert Zafonte, chairman of the task force, said, "We accomplished a great service for the community, providing a safer community for the children and for the rest of us," referring to the fact that Salisbury Park Drive is used daily by buses transporting children to and from school. "We don't like to just get our recommendations in and just walk away from it. After all the improvements were implemented, we wanted to go back and see if accidents were being reduced. Now we will continue to meet on a regular basis and keep analyzing the situation."