After working in Farmingdale for 18 years, my wife, Dana, recently got a job offer in West Hempstead, much closer to home. As it was a big decision for her and our family, we weighed the pros and cons. Compensation, benefits, schedule and duties were all considered.

In the end, one item on the “pro” side of the ledger outweighed all the cons: No longer having to drive on the Southern State Parkway.

This wasn’t just about saving minutes. It was about eliminating the daily gamble that comes with traversing what’s come to be known as “Blood Alley” — the 10-mile serpentine stretch of the parkway between Exit 32 and Exit 17 — roughly, the drive my wife made at least five days a week for the better part of two decades.

“Blood Alley” earned its macabre moniker because of the high rate of fa

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