The_Rambler_1967-03-21

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CONCERN GROWS OVER MELVILLE RD DEATH TRAP
Foriner Senate VP FEBB^^SSSSSSTI W^idening Melville Road
Recounts Melville Tragedy
The RAMBLER gratefully reprints below an open letter re'
ceived from Al Blumenfeld, former Vice President of the
Student Senate who organized the "MAKE MELVILLE ROAD
SAFE' campaign and who has diligently fought for a 'SAFE
AND SANE' Melville Road.
My fellow students, faculty and friends,
Not long ago we commemorated the death of one
of our fellow students. Like five other people (two
of them students) he was the victim of an Auto
Accident on Melville Road. After four months of
bureaucratic chacanery the future of Melville Road
still looks dim. I have stated before and I repeat.
Melville Rd. i s poorly lit,
Melville Rd. is lacking caution signs,
Melville Rd's speed limit is excessive for thatof a
school zone,
Melville Rd. is a hazard to each one of us.
Our school. The State University at Farmingdale
The northern terminus of Mel-ville
Road which had previously
run from the Nassau-Suffolk
County line northeast to route
110, is presently under construc-tion
for widening and relocation.
The Melville roadproject was
Initiated by the State University
to make room for a new dining
hall-dormitory complex slated
for construction this fall, and
to coincide with its general re-habilitation
program.
Starting at the county line near
Dogwood Avenue in Farmingdale,
there will be four lanes, which
after passing the Arcadian Gar-dens,
will diverge to allow for a
twenty-foot grassy mall to sepa-rate
oncoming taffic. Afterpass-ing
the barn, the new road will
then turn East, cutting through
the apple orchard to rejoin route
110.
l ^ e county intends topreserve
most of the existing trees along
the road, and several will be
left to grace the grassy divider.
Several one-hundred foot de-celeration
and turning ramps
will be provided for the two en-trances
to the college, at Lup-ton
Hall and in front of the
new administration building.
Present plans also call for
the refurbishments of existing
s i d e w a l k s and incandescent
street lighting on the East side
with a planned speed limit of
forty miles-per-hour maintained
throu^out. The present side-walk
starts from the county line
and extends to the end of the
College's property line. No traf-fic
lights or stop signs are plan-ned
for Melville road's future.
The Suffolk County Department
of Public Works tentatively ex-pects
the opening of the Mel-ville
Road Relocation approxi-mately
June 1st.
has 3,300 students attending classes during the day,
and many more evening students at might; we have
more people in one area, than the whole of Farm-ingdale.
Why don't we get the support that a com-munity
of this s i z e deserves?
RAMBLER: Mr. Matseunay, would you please comment on
the fact that no traffic lights are planned for Melville Road
in front of our college.
MR. MATSEUNAY: If they don't put up a traffic light that
would be the exception not the rule...
—Mr, Matseunay is the Chief Engineer for the
Suffolk County Department of Public V/orks
^ 1
m c
X n m h h x
state University at Farmingdale volume 38 No. 3
Suffolk County deems this road as safe.
How many deaths need occur till it i s deemed haz-ardous?
-
How many deaths need occur till a pedestrian con-
(Continued on page 3)
'Born Contributes to Accident Toll'
Allegations answered
The RAMBLER talked with Mr. Angelo Amendlare
the present proprietor of the College Barn, a
restaurant and discoteque located opposite Mott
house on the east side of Melville Road. . . '*It's
very unusual, when a day goes by without an ac-cident
on Melville Road . . they should put up a
couple of traffic lights to protect the students. . .
I canH see the sense of widening the road without
these necessary precautions." "If they don't do
something there's going to be a lot more ac-cidents."
Some people have brought ob-jections
against the bam, its
serving of beer and the result-ing
bibulous hazzard.
"The bam serves a necessary
function . . a weekly rend^^zvous
where the students — especially
the dorm students — can nneet
and socialize." Mr. Amendlare
remarked.
You mean, to have their own
place . . . separate from their
locis in parentis? "Exactly"
"Also, where before they had
to drive several miles to the
Parkway or P.J.'S, now they
can Just walk across the street
and blow off steam • • • there's
less chance for them to get Into
fights in town or to have an ac-cident
on the way," "They don't
have to contend with any other
local kids who may be looking
for trouble • , , it saves that
dangerous drive back to school.
Mr. Larry Lies is the owner
and manager of the Chevron Sta-tion
next to the Bam, and we
felt that his twenty e i ^ t years
residence would speak for it-self.
"I've seen a lot go on
around here in my twenty eight
years • • , the kids used to
hitch hike to the Parkway or the
village to buy beer," "I can
remember seeing a few of the kids
come wobbling up the road with
a six pack under each arm,''
"You don't see much of that
anymore,"
Mr, Lies in your opinion,
does the Bam play any useful
function? "Certainly , . , as far
as beer goes, if they don't get
it here they'll get It somewhere
else," "It gives the Aggies
place to meet on weekends , ,
instead of hopping in their cars
and getting in trouble over at the
Cloud Nine,"
We Will Not Be Crucified
On A Concrete Cross
We have been studying the blue prints for the
new Melville Road relocation and widening and as
far as being any safer, it doesn't look promising.
Melville Road was, and unless action i s taken, will
remain a death trap. There are several irrefutable
facts that point to the possibility of more tragedy.
ONLY THE EXISTING SIDEWALKS ON THE EAST
SIDE INTEND TO BE RESTORED.
We find this quite unacceptible for a growing col-lege
of our size, Farmingdale is the only college
on Long Island with a super highway 500 feet from
its dorms. We cannot assume that students are go-ing
to walk along the east side of Melville Road.
What about the kids who have to walk from Suffolk
to the Barn or the students who have to thumb their
way home, for lack of transportation.
As it now appears, they ¥dll havetopreoariously
walk the shoulder, each hoping that a speeding
maniac doesnH come barreling around the curve.
It would be a sound safety precaution, not to mention
good aesthetic balance, to have side walks parallel
both sides of Melville Road.
NO STREET LIGHTING WILL BE PROVIDED
ON THE WEST SIDE OF MELVILLE ROAD.
How can a road be widened to one-hundred feet
with four lane traffic without proper street light-ing?
The lack of visual aids' with the bordering
woods is bad enough, but to leave the west side
unlighted would be an egregious error indeed.
NO TRAFFIC UGHTS WILL BE ERECTED
ON THE NEW ROAD
The present surface condition is anything but
smooth, yet you will see people blasting down
the road doing sixty. It's one of the only unin-terrupted
stretches of roads left in heavily popu-lated
Suffolk County. The presence of a traffic
light or preferably two in timed sequence, would
act as a deterrent to short-cut speeders.
THE PRESENT SPEED LIMIT OF
40 MPH WILL REMAIN
The speed limit on Melville road should be
(Continued on page 5)