‘Why does it take a death to get a response?’: town official

Flanders residents complained to state and local officials numerous times about the condition of pothole-ridden Flanders Road, dating back months prior to the fatal crash that claimed the life of a 47-year-old woman last Thursday morning, according to local civic leaders and government officials.

A police investigation into the cause of the Jan. 16 crash is ongoing, but the victim’s family members and many local residents are convinced that the deteriorated road surface and crater-size potholes on NY Route 24 caused the driver of a PSEG utility truck to lose control of his vehicle, cross into the opposite lane of travel and hit the victim’s SUV head-on.

Barbara Tocci, of Hampton Bays, most likely died instantly from the impact of the crash, according to law enforcement officials. The utility truck and Tocci’s crumpled Ford Explorer came to a rest on the shoulder of the northbound lane just south of Spinney Road. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the utility truck, Michael Pepe, 53, of Bayport, did not suffer serious physical injury. He was treated at Peconic Bay Medical Center and released. Southampton Town Police said no criminal charges are anticipated.

Later that day, police acknowledged they were investigating whether the condition of the road was a factor in the crash. A state police forensic ID and collision reconstruction unit responded to investigate.

‘Why does it take a death to get a response?’

State department of transportation road crews were called to repair the damaged roadway, police said last Thursday afternoon. The presence of DOT trucks up and down Flanders Road that afternoon and evening further infuriated community residents.

“People complained to the state DOT dozens and dozens of times, but it all seems to fall on deaf ears with the state,” said Richard Naso, chairman of the Flanders-Riverside-Northampton Citizens Advisory Committee, which acts as a liaison between the community and town government. “It’s just complaceny,” he said.

“Why does it take a death to get a response?” Naso asked.

That sentiment was echoed by Flanders-Riverside-Northampton Civic Association president Vince Taldone.

“In addition to repeatedly calling the DOT, we brought it up numerous times to elected officials,” Taldone said.

Complaints dating back to at least last summer

Assemblyman Fred Thiele and State Senator Ken LaValle both say they heard constituent complaints about the condition of Flanders Road many times dating back to at least last summer.

“We inputted those complaints to the DOT office,” LaValle said in an interview today.

Thiele said he wrote to the DOT last June 26 about the condition of the stretch of roadway where last week’s tragedy occurred, the section between Longneck Boulevard southeast to the traffic signal at Bellows Pond Road. His office was getting numerous calls from constituents about that section of road, he said. Thiele asked whether the DOT had any plans to resurface it.

The DOT responded to the assemblyman by saying they had no resurfacing plans at that time. In a July 8 letter to Thiele, the DOT said that the particular section of roadway, which was last resurfaced in 2003, was rated “good.” The road surface should typically last 15 years, DOT said. A recent visit by a DOT pavement manager verified that, the state agency said. But they promised to have their repair division look at it, Thiele said.

Thiele and LaValle both say they are now asking the DOT commissioner to resurface the road this spring, as soon as weather allows.

Until then, temporary measures will have to suffice, they both said.

DOT crews were out on Flanders Road again today, laying down “hot patch,” LaValle said. Typically, pothole repairs in wintertime are done with what’s known as “cold patch,” but it’s a very temporary solution, LaValle said. He said he believes DOT applied cold patch to the road on the afternoon of the accident last week.

Newly elected Southampton Town Councilman Brad Bender, former president of FRNCA, agreed that the condition of Flanders Road has long been “pretty bad.”

“I’m hoping this will be the catalyst to repave it and that they’ll spend the money needed to do it right,” Bender said.

Victim’s brother: Resurfacing Flanders Road won’t be enough

Repaving the road, though it’s desperately needed, won’t be enough to make it safe, said the victim’s brother, Paul Tocci, a veteran member of the Flanders-Northampton Volunteer Ambulance.

“The road is too busy to be as big as it is,” Tocci said. “People go too fast.” The passing lane on the southbound side encourages people to drive at dangerous speeds, often in excess of 70 mph, he said.

“All you’ve got is a double-yellow line protecting you and that ain’t nothing.”

Tocci said the state should bring the road down to one lane in each direction and put “some kind of divider” in place.

“I have seen some awful wrecks on that road, especially right there,” Tocci said. “I’ve pulled people out of them,” he said.

“There are six crosses along that road. I know every one of them,” Tocci said.

A new white cross now stands at the spot where his sister lost her life, a memorial to the woman described by family, friends and all who knew her as caring, thoughtful and kind. It bears a photo of her dimpled, smiling face and a heart with the inscription, “God bless Barbara Doll” — her nickname in a family of seven siblings.

“She was a doll,” her brother said. “She was one in a million.”

The grandmother of three was on her way to work at a Riverhead title agency last Thursday morning at 8:15 when tragedy struck.

When the road was closed by police due to the accident, Tocci said he and members of his family began calling each other to make sure everyone was safe. They couldn’t reach Barbara. Then she didn’t arrive at her office.

“She’s never late and she never doesn’t answer her phone,” her brother said. They feared the worst, but had no word from authorities for more than two-and-a-half hours.

“We knew it was her after [another media outlet] posted a picture of her car online. We knew it was hers,” he said today, his voice full of emotion. “It’s hard to describe what that was like, what this whole thing has been like,” Tocci said.

The extent of her injuries were so severe, Tocci said, “we couldn’t even open the casket to look at her… to see her beautiful face again, one more time.”

The most important thing now, Tocci said, is to do everything possible to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

“They have to fix this road.”

A DOT spokesperson declined comment, citing a pending police investigation.

“We are deeply saddened by the news of the fatality on N.Y. Route 24 in Riverhead,” the agency said in an email last week. “We will coordinate with the police, review their reports and take appropriate action.”