State To Study Traffic At Montauk/Barberry Intersection

The state Department of Transportation (DOT) will be initiating a new traffic study of Montauk Highway in the area around Barberry Road to gauge the safety of the intersection where students walking to the high school cross.

At Thursday’s Board of Education meeting Superintendent Richard Simon said the DOT study was the result of a recent meeting to discuss traffic concerns at the intersection. Joining Simon at the meeting was BOE President Steve Gellar, school district Buildings and Grounds Director James Bosse, a representative from State Sen. Owen Johnson’s office, state DOT officials, Islip Town officials, Suffolk Police and parents and community members.

“We wanted to see what could be done given the serious safety concerns at the intersection,” Simon said.

While the state DOT will initiate the traffic study in an attempt to develop a long-term solution, the superintendent said Suffolk police would be taking more immediate steps to enhance safety at the intersection.

Simon said an additional crossing guard will be in place at the Barberry/Montauk crosswalk and that police will be stepping up patrols in the area as well.

The meeting and forthcoming traffic study comes after high school student Christopher Wilson, 16, of West Islip, was in the early morning hours as he was walking across Montauk Highway at Barberry Road heading to school. The accident happened in late October. An update on Wilson’s condition was not available as his family had previously asked for privacy.

Police said Wilson was struck by a car driven by Dorothy Upton, 84, of Deer Park. Her 1996 Buick Century was impounded by police for a safety check.

Meeting Notes

• At the board of education meeting, Simon announced that the school district will be putting out a Request For Proposal (RFP) to realtors to review the marketability issues of the school district’s six elementary schools. All responses to the RFP are due by Dec. 23.

The information provided by a realtor about the feasibility of leasing or selling each building will be provided to board of education trustees and be used as part of the decision in choosing which two buildings to close.

• The board of education is forming a Budget Advisory Committee that will be chaired by Trustee George Smith, the senior member of the BOE. An application for residents interested in being considered for the committee is available on the school district website.

• The board of education on Thursday announced an additional public meeting on January 4 to discuss the impending closure of two elementary schools. The meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the auditorium.