Town of Huntington Takes Steps to Make Woodbury Road Safer

Huntington Supervisor Frank P. Petrone and Highway Superintendent Peter Gunther announce that the Town has implemented the first phase of the consultant’s recommendations to improve traffic safety on Woodbury Road.

Town Highway Department workers trimmed trees along the shoulder of the road, which runs 2.5 miles from Main

Woodbury Road

Street in Huntington Village to Pulaski Road in Cold Spring Harbor, and upgraded or replaced road signs to increase visibility.  The 165 new signs are larger than the ones they replaced, including larger chevron signs to further emphasize the horizontal curves in the roadway and increase their visibility to approaching vehicles. The Town also installed new turn and reverse turn signs to replace curve and reverse curve signs, bringing that signage up to the Federal Highway Administration’s most recent Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Device (MUTCD) standards. The Town also other upgraded signs to Diamond Grade reflectivity and installed new Diamond Grade reflective inserts on channel posts.

The recommendations were contained in a report issued earlier this year by the Town’s consultant, Gibbons, Esposito and Boyce Engineers, P.C. The findings were discussed at a June 15 community meeting. Last month, as a follow-up to the study, the Town Board amended the agreement to expand the study by conducting skid testing of the surface asphalt at selected locations and to design pavement markings and a plan for rumble strips. Those measures were also part of the study’s recommendations.

“These were the measures we could implement most quickly while we conduct the additional studies necessary before instituting others,” Supervisor Petrone said. “We believe that each step we take will make Woodbury Road a little safer by prompting motorists to drive slower and more responsibly.”

Woodbury Road has many curves and has been a road in Huntington that has seen many fatalities with the accidents that occur on that road.  Many people that live in the area have stated the road needs improvement and now the town is trying to do something about the safety concerns.

Superintendent Gunther stated  “I am happy that we could implement these measures using existing staff and resources, and look forward to continuing to work with the Town Board on the next steps.”