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Efforts underway to curb speeders along Park Boulevard Following a meeting late last year, Massapequa Park Village and Nassau County are moving forward with steps to help curb speeding along Park Boulevard. N. C. Leg. Peter Schmitt has promised the county's financial support for signs, the police department has promised a greater police presence, and Massapequa Park Village Mayor Jim Altadonna is hoping all of this will slow vehicles down. For the last several years, residents who live on or near Park Boulevard have complained that there has not only been an increase in traffic between Sunrise Highway and Merrick Road but also an increase in the speed at which these vehicles are going and an increase in the number of accidents. In January, the Village asked the County to complete a survey to determine if speeding was a problem. That survey produced mixed results. "We have written more than 75 speeding tickets on Park Boulevard alone (this year) but most of those tickets are being thrown out, so we're hoping that the presence we have there will help or that if someone gets a ticket they will remember next time not to speed," said the 7th precinct's new commanding officer, Albert Jaskot, who added that most of the tickets written were given to locals. "We hope to increase enforcement, but we can't be there every day," he added. The Village looked into different ways to calm traffic and decided that installing four bright green digital speed signs would be the best option. Altadonna said additional patrols throughout the Village are what he is looking for. "The police do a great job even though the 7th Precinct is understaffed, but we need to be proactive in protecting our Village," said the Mayor who said he wants an additional dedicated car assigned to the Village. Nassau County Police said that out of 21 patrols in the 7th Precinct, six cover a portion of Massapequa Park, and the two cars that spend the most time in Massapequa Park have the lowest number of calls. Car #706 spends 100 percent of its time in the Village and car # 720 is there 80 percent of the time. The other cars divide their time as follows: #705 spends two-thirds of their time in MPK, #707 1/3, #712 about 15 percent and #713 about 25 percent of their tour. There are 139 officers assigned to the precinct. Altadonna wasn't impressed. "Adding those percentages only adds up to about three cars (that only spend a portion of their time in Massapequa Park). If Massapequa Park is 10 percent of the population (of the precinct), we should have at least two cars dedicated to us," he said. "The problem is that Nassau County doesn't have enough police officers," said Schmitt. "I have tried to add them to the budget many times but (N.C. Exec. Thomas) Suozzi says the current staff is sufficient." "Traffic enforcement is an important function because when we stop (people from) speeding, tailgating and aggressive driving, we reduce accidents and fatalities." Precinct-wide the numbers of auto accidents went down 2.5 percent with 3,450 in 2005 and 3,364 in 2006; accidents with injuries are down 15.6 percent with 803 in 2005 and 678 in 2006; accidents with fatalities are up, however, by 37.5 percent with 11 in 2006 and 8 in 2005; and finally Driving while intoxicated or impaired by drugs with a fatality is up 100 percent with 2 in 2005 and 4 in 2006. In Massapequa Park alone, DWI arrests are up 13.65 percent so far this year with 1,224 and 1,077 in 2006. "Our precinct has the fourth largest population in the state and we have the second most amount of traffic accidents," said the 7th precinct Captain Thomas Hayes, who added that the highest numbers of accidents last year occurred along Sunrise Highway at Unqua Road (34), Broadway (33), Hicksville Road (23) and Park Boulevard (30). During the holidays, a holiday patrol was added for the mall relieving some of the work of the cars that patrol the Village, said Schmitt. "Now we'll try to get a dedicated car for you." The traffic signs cost approximately $4,500 each and will be installed as soon as possible. Some residents were still not happy about the steps the Village is taking to combat the problems, however. "There are nine stop signs on Cartwright (Boulevard). Why can't we just put up stop signs?" asked one resident at the meeting.
"That'll never happen," said Altadonna. "Park Boulevard is a different kind of street. The backup would be tremendous and then there'd be complaints about that and about the noise and the pollution."
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