MONTICELLO- Following two serious truck accidents at the intersection of Route 209 and Sullivan Street in the Village of Wurtsboro earlier this year, members of the Sullivan County Legislature’s Public Works Committee passed a resolution calling on the state Department of Transportation to improve safety at the intersection.
Two accidents took place at the intersection, one in February and one in June, that were both serious in nature. According to Legislator Terry Blosser-Bernardo, the intersection has a long history of accidents.
“That four-way intersection has seen numerous accidents going back decades, mostly due to heavy trucks whose brakes have overheated while coming down Wurtsboro Mountain Road (County Route 172) from Rock Hill,” said Blosser-Bernardo, who co-introduced today’s resolution with Legislator Nick Salomone. “Since the DOT owns and maintains the traffic lights at that intersection, it’s incumbent upon them to take action where we cannot – namely, to mitigate, as much as possible, these deadly and destructive accidents.”
Salomone agreed, stating, “I travel through the Village regularly, and I’ve seen the damage that results when huge trucks careen down the hill. We need to increase the safety of the Village, its businesses, its residents and truck drivers themselves, before another life is lost.”
According to the latest DOT data available, approximately 8,000 vehicles use that section of Route 209 every day, and around 5,100 use Sullivan Street, which becomes Wurtsboro Mountain Road/CR 172 west of the Village. Approximately 10 percent of that traffic consists of medium to heavy weight trucks, with nearly 200 trucks estimated to utilize Wurtsboro Mountain Road each day.
County officials urged the state to assess alternate truck routes, such as using Route 17’s Exit 113 instead of 112. They also suggested the installation of traffic signal pre-emption technology, which would install detectors under the pavement and activate signaling devices at the intersection to warn drivers and pedestrians of a potentially out-of-control vehicle.
“We cannot wait until another accident happens to take action,” said Blosser-Bernardo. “We need the State DOT to come up with effective solutions and put them into place as soon as possible. It will literally save lives.”
