Tractor-trailer strikes overpass on Southern State

A tractor-trailer smashed into the Southern State Parkway overpass at Exit 18 last week — yet another reminder of the dangers of driving on the parkway.

The truck, headed west and driven by Jose De La Rosa-Martinez, struck the overpass at Eagle Avenue in West Hempstead at 3:48 a.m. on Dec. 14, according to Nassau County police. The crash caused traffic delays throughout the day between exits 18 and 19. All lanes reopened by 5 p.m.

Commercial trucks are not allowed on the parkway, as is the law on all of the state’s parkways.

After the tractor-trailer’s roof sheared off and it was wedged beneath the overpass, Rosa-Martinez uncoupled the tractor and drove away, according to police. He turned himself in later that day, and was charged with reckless endangerment as well as leaving the scene.

An SUV crashed into the tractor-trailer, but the driver, Kereen Wiggins, of Valley Stream, did not have any life-threatening injuries, police said. Wiggins and a passenger were both taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries.

Last week’s accident was the most recent in a series involving tall vehicles and Southern State overpasses. In 2018, a bus struck the same overpass, and six people were seriously hurt and were rushed to area hospitals. A total of three dozen people suffered minor injuries.

At a height of just 7 feet 7 seven inches at its lowest point, the Eagle Avenue bridge has one of the lowest clearances of any structure on a Long Island parkway, and is hit by oversized trucks an average of three times a year, according to the state Department of Transportation, as reported by the Herald in 2011.

The same overpass was struck a few months later in 2018, when, according to State Police, a box truck headed east on the parkway ran into it.

The frequency of accidents of all kinds on the Southern State in the past decade prompted the DOT to conduct a study on the road. In 2016 the agency found that in a five-year span, there were over 10,500 accidents, over 3,000 of which resulted in injuries and 32 of which were fatal.

Residents who live near the Eagle Avenue overpass say that one of the biggest contributors to these accidents is the lack of signs on the road. In a Facebook post that focused on last week’s crash, Michael Gandolfo wrote, “Not for nothing, how about we start updating the signage, both parkways are terribly marked.”

Some motorists say there aren’t enough signs alerting truckers not to enter Long Island’s parkways in the first place. “Truckers need to be warned to not … get on these roads,” said Christina LiCausi, a former resident of Long Beach, who recounted being behind a truck on the Meadowbrook Parkway in the 1990s when it struck an overpass. “Truckers who are not from the area may not know these roadways very well, and they’re going to make a mistake and go on the wrong road.”

In April, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a $157 million investment to restore 480 lanes of pavement on the Southern State and other roads. But the plan did not include safety measures aimed specifically at reducing overpass crashes.

One West Hempstead resident said she believed Hochul should direct some of the funding to that problem. “Maybe (she) needs to make signs more plentiful before trucks enter the Southern State Parkway,” Barbara Ann said. “This happens all the time at … Exit 18.”

A bill that addresses safety on the parkway, which was introduced in the State Legislature in 2021, is awaiting a vote from the State Senate’s Transportation Committee.

The measure, called the “S.O.S. Safety on Southern State” bill, seeks to designate a portion of the parkway as a “highway safety corridor.” The bill would add signs, increase law enforcement presence, and double traffic violation fines to curtail unsafe driving.