Putting a halt to reckless driving

Town of Hempstead Councilman Gary Hudes and Supervisor Kate Murray joined the Sissons family — mother Elizabeth; 9-year-old twins Anthony and Angie (holding the family dog, Bubbles); and Sade, 15, on Aug. 13. Behind them, town Traffic Department workers Walter Paruch, left, and Dan Turner installed one of the four-way stop signs.

David Weingrad/Herald

Four-way stop signs were installed by the Town of Hempstead at the intersection of Prospect Avenue and Second Street on Aug. 13. For years, residents have complained that the intersection needed greater safety measures to protect them.

David Weingrad/Herald

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A driver on Prospect Avenue approached the intersection with Second Street in the early morning of Aug. 13, and came to a stop at a stop sign that, until just moments earlier, had not been there. Noticing a group of about a dozen onlookers to his right, next to the newly erected sign, he gave them a smile and a thumbs-up before continuing on his way.

Just after 8 that morning, four-way stop signs were installed at the busy intersection, which for years has been the scene of accidents and the focus of complaints by nearby residents that not enough was being done to protect them.

Last month, one of those residents, Elizabeth Sissons, sent a letter to the Town of Hempstead about the dangerous intersection. She told the Herald recently that she could recall at least 10 accidents that had occurred there since last summer, including one on Memorial Day weekend in which a car drove onto her property and struck her house while her three young children were home. Afterward, the Sissonses bought a 7,000-pound slab of granite and installed it at the corner of their property to protect them from future accidents (“Improving safety on Prospect Avenue,” July 30-Aug. 5).

The town responded quickly. At the request of Councilman Gary Hudes, the Traffic Department conducted a study to find the intersection on Prospect Avenue with the highest accident rate, and it turned out to be Second Street. A resolution to put four-way stop signs there was passed by the town board on Aug. 4, Hudes said, and the signs were installed nine days later — only the second set on the two-mile, north-south corridor that connects Hempstead Turnpike with Merrick Avenue.

Elizabeth Sissons was among those who were smiling last Thursday, joined by her children, 15-year-old Sade and 9-year-old twins Anthony and Angie, Town Supervisor Kate Murray, Hudes and other town workers to celebrate the new stop signs.

“I’m excited,” Sissons said. “I think that with the four-way stop, it’ll hopefully make everyone more aware, slow down — and I’m surprised it happened so fast. I think it’s going to do some good.”