Over the past year, the New York State Department of Transportation’s Region 10 (Long Island) office has made some progress to address the dubious honor of having the region’s most dangerous roads for pedestrians.  The SafeSeniors pilot program has slowly begun implementation and, after Tri-State uncovered that Region 10’s Local Safe Streets and Traffic Calming grant program had been scrapped, the regional office promised to restart the popular grant program. But a sense of urgency has certainly been lacking.

Local Safe Streets and Traffic Calming grants were supposed to be awarded last October. But Region 10 hasn’t even issued a request for grant proposals from municipalities — and the program faces a proposed cut in funding in NYSDOT’s proposed 2010-2012 capital program.

Luckily, this lack of urgency is not mirrored on the local level. In February, 16 local elected officials, civic associations and non-profit groups from Long Island sent a letter urging NYSDOT to take immediate action to fix the most dangerous roads to pedestrians and to support Complete Streets legislation currently being considered in Albany.

Three months later NYSDOT Acting Commissioner Stan Gee provided a response which outlined the steps the agency is taking to reduce pedestrian fatalities, including the “awarding of a contract to install Pedestrian Countdown Timers at more than 900 crosswalks along State highways on Long Island” and “support for the intent of a Complete Streets policy.”

These are good steps, but bolder and more immediate action is required. Long Islanders continue to be injured and killed while trying to cross poorly designed roads in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.