The Town Board has picked up allies in its bid to have a traffic light at the intersection of Jackson Avenue and Route 94. Letters of support have come from West Point Tours (the bus company that transports Cornwall students) and from Supt. of Schools Neal Miller. He suggests that, with the high school in the area, there are many new drivers passing through the intersection.
The letters will go to the Department of Transportation (DOT) along with a Town Board resolution and a petition with more than 1,000 signatures. Erin Talarico started the petition in July after being injured in an accident involving three vehicles.
Supervisor Richard Randazzo said he will ask Sen. Bill Larkin and Assemblyman Skoufis to arrange a meeting with the DOT in or near Cornwall.
Senator Larkin has already written to the Regional Director of the DOT. “I would like to discuss the possibility of a traffic signal as soon as possible, before another accident takes place,” the senator said.
There have been six accidents at the crossing this year and 44 since the start of 2011. The intersection gets heavy traffic from the high school on one side, and from the train station on the other side. There are also a few recently built developments in the vicinity.
At the Town Board’s Aug. 8 meeting, Supervisor Randazzo acknowledged that the DOT had rejected a previous request for a light at Jackson and 94. But the petition made the supervisor optimistic. “There really is an outcry from the community to make the intersection safe,” he said. “The time has come for the DOT to take a serious look at the intersection and make it safe for everyone.”
Councilman Peter Russell suggested that the public could help by writing to:
Kingsley Onyeche
Dept. of Transportation
4 Burnett Boulevard
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603