Village of Great Neck trustees unanimously voted Tuesday to reduce the prohibition for drivers from turning right-on-red at the traffic light on Baker Hill Road onto Middle Neck Road from all day to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Village of Great Neck Mayor Pedram Bral said he initially favored lifting the prohibition all day and instead install a sign allowing drivers to turn right on red as long as no pedestrians were present.
“There is a curb that you can actually see the cars coming,” Bral said. “It’s a safe area to make a right if it says yield to pedestrians.”
Bral said he had gotten three complaints in two weeks from residents because of the “long, long light.”
Trustee Barton Sobel said at first he was also in favor of lifting the “no-turn-on-red” restriction, but remembered why the board decided to approve the restriction in August 2013.
“I’ve gotten blowback from certain residents and reminded me, and we get these police reports, the locations of most of the accidents were there,” Sobel said.
He added that placing reliance on drivers to yield for pedestrians was a risk.
The trustees said a 12-hour time restriction beginning at 7 a.m. would alleviate the risk of vehicular and pedestrian accidents during traffic-heavy hours in the village.
Village Deputy Clerk Katie Dugan said the time restriction would take effect as soon as the building department could order and install a new sign.
