Guzov v. StateGuzov v. State
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
On August 5, 2001 the claimant’s decedent was killed when he drove his vehicle off a segment of Route 27A, also known as Montauk Highway, in Bay Shore and struck boulders that hаd been placed approximately 15 feеt from the outer edge of the paved highway. The bоulders had been placed there no later thаn 1986 by the then owner of the private property adjacent to the highway. The claimant alleged that by failing to remove the boulders, the State of New York failed to maintain and repair Montauk Highway in violаtion of
“[C]ompliance with design standards adopted after the construction of a highway is not required unless the municipality undertаkes ‘significant repair or reconstruction’ that would provide an opportunity for complianсe with the new standards” (Cave v Town of Galen, 23 AD3d 1108, 1108-1109 [2005] [citation omitted]; see Preston v State of New York, 6 AD3d 835 [2004]). At the trial, the claimant’s acсident reconstruction expert testified that aftеr the boulders were placed next to Montauk Highway but before the decedent’s accident, the highway was changed from a four-lane bidirectional highwаy to a two-lane bidirectional highway divided by a new, duаl-use center left turn lane. As “a modernization or сorrection of the road ... is the sine qua non of a reconstruction project” (Benjamin v State of New York, 203 AD2d 629, 630 [1994]), the reconfiguration of the highway to reduce the number of total lаnes and create a dual-use left turn lane constituted a reconstruction which presented the State with the opportunity to ensure that the highway was сompliant with new design standards (see Cave v Town of Galen, 23 AD3d 1108 [2005]).
However, the сlaim was properly dismissed because the defendant’s failure to remove the boulders did not violatе the guidelines established by the New York State Manual for Highway Design. Credible evidence at trial established thаt the speed limit at the location of the accident was 40 miles per hour and the average dаily traffic in that location totaled over 6,000 vehicles. Given these circumstances, the State was required to maintain a minimum “clear zone,” or shoulder area adjacent to the paved highway, of 14 to 16 feet. Since the boulders were located approximately 15 feet from the edge of the roadway, the relevant design standards were not violated (see Schwartz v New York State Thruway Auth., 61 NY2d 955, 956 [1984]; Boyd v State of New York, 103 AD2d 882, 883 [1984]).
The claimant’s remaining contentions are without merit.
Rivera, J.P., Santucci, Covello and Balkin, JJ., concur.