Legislator: ‘We Cannot Wait Till ‘28’
By Hank Russell
A group of elected officials, civic and business leaders and first responders met at the parking lot of Cella Bagels in Selden on February 13 to call on the New York State Department of Transportation (NYS DOT) to fix a section of Middle Country Road — also known as Route 25 — in order to prevent speeding and fatal accidents.
Suffolk County Legislator Nick Caracappa (C-Centereach) said people have to “navigate this deadly obstacle course” whenever they have to “get to work, school or grocery shopping and then have to navigate their way home.”
Caracappa said there has been a “sharp increase in accidents and incidents” on the corridor, which begins at Lake Grove and runs through the Selden-Centereach area. These incidents included “blown out tires, damaged rims, damaged pieces of a vehicle, all at the cost of the vehicle owner or by deductible — that’s a burden.”
NYS Senator Dean Murray (R=Patchogue) said, with the stores and residences along that stretch of road, “every time, you want to stop and turn into something, there’s a danger of getting rear-ended.”
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said that after “years and years,” the transportation agency “has not stepped up to the plate.” He recalled when Hochul touted all the potholes being fixed on Long Island roadways. “Hey, governor, how about Route 25?,” he asked. “Its time to say, ‘Knock it off, let’s get to work, let’s solve the problem, let’s make the road safer and easier to travel on.’”
First responders have also experienced “potholes damaging their tires and rims,” the legislator said. Additionally, “We can’t afford for these vehicles to go down. They cost lives. They cost money, and it can be prevented.”
Suffolk FRES (Fire Rescue and Emergency Services) Commissioner Rudy Sunderman says response times have impacted by the road’s deteriorating conditions and the damage to emergency vehicles by potholes drive up vehicle maintenance costs for first responders. Further, potholes can endanger a patient’s life while being transported to the hospital.
“Having well-maintained roads is not up for negotiation,” Sunderman said. “I urge the governor to take action on these deteriorating road conditions.”
First responders face delays in responding to incidents because “cars have no way to go,” added Scott Nowakowski, chief of the Selden Fire Department. “They can’t get out of our way, and we can’t take the center lane because of the additional traffic.”
Suffolk County Legislator Dominick Thorne (R-Patchogue), who chairs the Fire Rescue and Emergency Services and Preparedness Committee, was more direct. “When you slow down emergency vehicles, you are endangering lives,” he said. “I am tired of hearing decade after decade that ‘we’re going to look at it.’ Stop looking at it, start working on it and get this road fixed!”
Brookhaven Town Clerk Kevin LaValle, who grew up in Centereach, noted that, when he was on the town council ten years ago, said they jumped on the problem by developing ideas such as curb cuts and cross access away from Middle Country Road andn only allowing right-hand turns in and out of shopping centers. “We’re doing the job on the town level that the state should be doing at their level.”
The problem is that there is money for the project, but it has not been allotted. According to Murray, he spoke with NYS DOT Regional Director Dan Caulin before the press conference to expedite the project. “[Middle Country Road] was not included in the five-year plan,” Murray said. “It was put in the five-year plan. We then kept pushing and then it was moved up in the five-year plan.” He added that Caulin is “doing everything he can to move it up even more into an emergency status.”
Murray said that only the potholes can be repaired, but not the entire road. He explained that the paving season runs from late spring to early fall, which means any work cannot be done now. “If you try to lay it down now, it’s going to crumble, it’s going to be full of potholes, and you will have wasted $11 million.”
Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro said Hochul added $800 million for the state transportation agency. That means, “if you were to extrapolate that out, we were shorted $6.2 billion for that. There was no reason that money could have been moved up for 2026.”
Losquadro also said that the blame lies at the DOT and, “by extension, the governor,” adding, “ It could’ve been done, it should have been done, it was not. … They need to appropriate the money, and they need to appropriate the money immediately. It’s irresponsible, and this is something we cannot stand for.”
Despite having the highest numbe of registered vehicles and drivers in the state and more roadways than Nassau, Suffolk does not get its fair share of infrastructure funding from the state, Caracappa said. “Suffolk is tired of being disregarded, being ripped off, and not seeing a return of what we are paying in taxes here,” he said.
Long Island Life & Politics reached out to the state transportation agency regarding the road conditions on the Route 25 corridor.
“The New York State Department of Transportation understands the importance of Middle Country Road to the local community and is working at an expedited pace to commence the design on a resurfacing project on this roadway,” the agency said in a statement. “In the meantime, NYSDOT crews are working to address potholes as they develop and perform maintenance as needed.”
“Get your act together,” Caracappa told the NYS DOT. “Bring the resources that we need. We cannot afford any more wasted time. Save our streets. It’s been too long. The time is now. We cannot wait till ‘28.”