Intersection Reconfiguration Could Help Alleviate Street Noise

A Rockaway Avenue resident who lives in close proximity to the Merillon Avenue/Rockaway Avenue intersection near the high school wants the blaring horns and brake screeching to stop and has asked that the village's Traffic Commission re-configure the area to help alleviate the noise.

When traveling south on Rockaway, motorists oftentimes roll through the Stop sign, startling northbound drivers forking left onto Merillon Avenue. Likewise, many motorists traveling north on Rockaway fail to signal left when merging onto Merillon.

According to Garden City Police Inspector Kenneth Jackson, the department responded to six accidents at the intersection since last March.

Police Commissioner Ernest Cipullo said Officer Matos "observed and evaluated the traffic conditions" at the intersection and believes the Rockaway Avenue resident's recommendations have merit.

"There have been a lot of things proposed for that intersection over the years but I think virtually all of them didn't make much sense," Trustee John Mauk said. "How would we re-configure this? Are we talking about moving the Stop sign?"

Moving the solid white stop line back – not the Stop sign itself – could help.

"You get the impression that this car is going to come right into your lane," Traffic Commission chair Don Brudie said.

H. Arthur Anderson, who attended the meeting regarding another matter, said a similarly confusing intersection exists in Plandome.

"They have a sign that says please 'signal at upcoming intersection,'" Anderson said. "If they don't have a signal on you think they're going to stay on Rockaway. But all too often they go on to the left, onto Merillon Avenue."

Anderson suggested installing a sign on the curb line near the golf course to remind motorists to use their signal. "It's a great sign," he said.

George Tietjen, who represents the Central section on the commission, once lived on that Plandome road. He said the difficulty with installing such a sign is that Rockaway is a very wide roadway while the Plandome road is quite narrow.

"I'm not sure you'd even see the sign," he said. "How big do you want that sign in front of someone's house?" 

The commission granted the Rockaway Avenue resident's request. However, because Rockaway Avenue is county-owned, it must be referred to the county's Traffic Commission for further review.