A list of the most dangerous roads in New York is out, and one in particular has the attention of many residents and lawmakers on Long Island.
Interstate-87 tops the study, which was conducted by iSelect, an insurance comparison service, but also making the top 10 is Middle Country Road, also known as New York 25, in Suffolk County.
Speeding is a major problem
A stretch of Middle Country Road landing yet again on the list came as no surprise to local business owners and residents in Selden and Centereach.
“I see them doing 80 mph, 90 mph past this store. I have seen 10 to 12 deaths right in front of this store. Cars, pedestrians and motorcycles get hit out here. It’s nonstop,” said John Rose, owner of Cella Bagels.
Ed O’Brien said his son, Daniel, was killed by a driver making a left turn in front of him.
“After my son, it was like all the time, and I always said the road is a death trap. There always seems to be someone left in front of someone,” O’Brien said.
The once-quiet country route is now a busy commercial corridor lined with shopping centers. Its 40 mph speed limit is largely ignored, as are no left turn signs.
“When they are speeding in and out of traffic, you can’t see when you’re making a left. You see it’s clear one second. Next second, head-on collisions,” Suffolk County Legislator Nick Caracappa said.
He said nothing has improved despite years of pleas to Albany for better-timed lights and more of them, and medians.
“We have to have medians. We have to reduce the left-hand turns. We have to reduce the speed,” Caracappa said.
“The potholes are more like craters”
Civic leaders say the potholes on Middle Country also cause crashes, and patching them is nothing more than a Band-Aid that doesn’t last.
“The potholes are more like craters,” said Leah Fitzpatrick, president of the Centereach Civic Association.
Caracappa said the state Department of Transportation told him a full repaving of the road will happen in 2028.
“It’s too long. We have been waiting a decade already,” Caracappa said. “How many more deaths is it doing to take?”
“Waiting until 2028 to fix potholes and make Middle Country Road safer is not acceptable and demonstrates a lack of urgency from the state DOT,” Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano said. “The same old ‘neglect Long Island’ story must end. We pay an enormous amount of taxes and fees to the state — in many instances collected to specifically address our transportation needs — and we get shortchanged time after time. The Suffolk delegation of elected officials is more unified than ever in the fight to get what we pay for, especially when it comes to fixing our roads.”
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine and state representatives are urging Albany to prioritize the dangerous stretch of Middle Country Road immediately.
“Empty promises don’t save lives,” Romaine said.
State Sen. Dean Murray and Assemblyman Doug Smith are also pushing for the state DOT to make that area of NY 25 a priority for repaving to address the horrible conditions of the road.
“Nothing has been done to get it fixed. We need better lighting for pedestrians to cross. Left turns would not be done anywhere along this road,” said Linda Miller, president of the Selden Civic Association.
Aggressive driving is worrisome, Suffolk County residents say
While residents want to see better maintenance of the road, they say aggressive driving is out of control. Suffolk County police say enforcement is up countywide, with 30% more patrols and 37% more aggressive driving tickets issued in 2025.
“They speed past and that’s when disaster happens,” Rose said.
Residents in this part of Long Island want off the list.
The Long Island Expressway, Sunrise Highway, and the Southern State Parkway also made the top 10 of the most dangerous roads list. Â