An MTA truck heading westbound on Route 109 struck an eastbound sedan attempting to turn left onto Herzel Boulevard just before 4 a.m. Wednesday in West Babylon, temporarily shutting down the intersection before it reopened. No one was injured, according to police, but the crash marks the second collision at this exact junction in less than three weeks, reigniting frustration from residents and business owners who say the intersection's signal setup is a hazard waiting to happen.
The overnight collision comes just weeks after an Aug. 7 crash at the same intersection involving a pickup truck and a sedan injured both drivers and pushed residents and business owners to publicly demand changes, according to News 12 Long Island. Suffolk County Police also responded to another crash at a separate West Babylon intersection, though details on that incident remain limited. News 12 reported it had contacted the MTA for comment on Wednesday's crash, but as of publication the agency had not responded.
A Signal Residents Say Breeds Confusion
Residents have repeatedly pointed to the intersection's blinking yellow left-turn arrow as the root of the problem, saying it confuses drivers and leads them to misjudge oncoming traffic before turning. Local business owner Chuck Fox, who runs Master Window Tinting and Detailing near the intersection, called on the New York State Department of Transportation in early August to swap the flashing yellow arrow for a standard red-and-green arrow signal, according to News 12's earlier reporting. Fox told the station he regularly hears tire screeching and horns from the intersection, describing it as a nightmare even before this month's crashes.
A NYSDOT spokesperson has said the intersection meets all state and federal standards, a position rooted in national engineering guidance. The flashing yellow arrow was established as the national standard for permissive left turns under the Federal Highway Administration's 11th Edition Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which requires drivers to yield to oncoming traffic during that phase. A separate Federal Highway Administration evaluation of 307 signalized intersections across four states found that flashing yellow arrows reduced left-turn crashes by 15% to 50% compared with older signal designs, which is why engineers continue to favor them despite driver complaints.
Research Backs a Different Fix, With a Catch
Still, transportation safety research published in 2022 by the CMF Clearinghouse found that replacing permissive left-turn signals with fully protected red-and-green arrow phasing cuts left-turn crashes of all severity levels by more than 50%. The tradeoff is longer vehicle delay during peak hours, a cost that state traffic engineers on heavily used arterial roads like Route 109 have historically been reluctant to absorb. Route 109, once known as the Babylon-Farmingdale Turnpike, is a heavily traveled four-lane undivided highway linking Sunrise Highway and the Southern State Parkway, carrying a steady stream of commercial and commuter traffic through West Babylon.
This is not the first time turns at Route 109 and Herzel Boulevard have turned deadly. In June 2022, 70-year-old Patricia Pigott was killed at the same intersection when her westbound SUV attempted a left turn onto Herzel Boulevard and was struck on the passenger side by an oncoming eastbound vehicle, causing it to overturn, as previously reported by Patch. That fatal crash predates the current signal complaints but underscores residents' long-standing concern that left turns across Route 109's opposing lanes carry outsized risk.
A Corridor With a Troubled Track Record
The intersection's troubles fit into a broader pattern along Route 109. NYSDOT has previously responded to recurring collisions on the corridor by lowering speed limits to 35 mph and narrowing travel lanes on select commercial stretches, according to News 12 Westchester. Suffolk County also ended its 14-year automated red-light camera program on Dec. 1, 2024, following debate over its effectiveness at reducing broadside collisions on major arterial roads including Route 109, Newsday reported. Separately, residents in North Lindenhurst have raised similar traffic safety complaints about rising crashes at Herzel Boulevard and Wellwood Avenue.
The stakes extend beyond this single intersection. Suffolk County led all New York counties with 162 traffic fatalities in 2022, as statewide fatal crashes climbed nearly 26% between 2019 and 2022, per Newsday's reporting. Primary law enforcement jurisdiction over Route 109 in West Babylon falls to the Suffolk County Police Department's First Precinct, which is headquartered directly on Route 109 within the hamlet. For now, the flashing yellow arrow remains in place at Route 109 and Herzel Boulevard, and residents say they expect more close calls until something changes.
