WAWAYANDA – After years of pushing for a crash gate and emergency entrance onto Interstate 84 in the Town of Wawayanda, the Federal Highway Administration has given its approval for one to be constructed.
There is presently no emergency access point on the highway between the Goshen and Mountain Road exits, a more than 10-mile stretch that prevents timely emergency response.
Senator James Skoufis (D, Cornwall) and Assemblyman Karl Brabenec (R, Deerpark) redoubled their efforts to gain the approvals for the emergency entrance since the fatal accident involving a Farmingdale school bus in which two adults lost their lives.
Brabenec said the crash gate will improve response time and will save lives.
“It’s a huge win for the residents of the area. This is something that people have been waiting for at least two decades when they originally started the project,” he said. “Both Senator Skoufis and myself worked very hard on trying to create awareness for the need for this crash gate and emergency entrance.”
Skoufis said since the September school bus accident, “it was clear there wasn’t just a need, but an urgent need” for the crash gate.
Town Supervisor Denise Quinn said the crash gate “will improve the time that first responders so critically need to get to an emergency situation on our interstate.”
Just this week, there was a pile-up involving two tractor-trailers and private vehicles on the Greenville Mountain again raising the issue of no emergency access point.
Brabenec said if all goes well, the new entrance could be installed by this coming spring.
