The Examiner

Briarcliff Manor Mayor Calls on DOT to Make Urgent Route 9A Repairs

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A local elected official urged the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to quickly make much-needed repairs on Route 9A in Briarcliff Manor and Ossining to make the road safer while communities await long-term solutions.

Briarcliff Manor Mayor Steven Vescio said one portion of the center guide rail was flattened from an accident on Mar. 7, and needs to be replaced.

In an Aug. 19 letter to Lance MacMillan, the DOT’s regional director, Vescio also implored the agency to update warning signage and do a better job at maintaining the roadway, which in spots is riddled with potholes.

“It shouldn’t take months for it to be fixed,” Vescio said of the guide rail, currently the most pressing safety concern in his estimation. “It should take a matter of a week or two, and you’ve got rail in Briarcliff and in Ossining that has been laying on the ground for more than six months.” The mayor wrote a letter to the DOT in April following the early March crash about having the rail replaced near the Pleasantville Road Bridge and was told it would be done in the spring. Nearly six months later repairs have still not been addressed.

Now with schools opening either later this week or immediately following the upcoming Labor Day weekend, Vescio is concerned about safety with an anticipated increase in traffic.
“My point now is fix the rail, fix any potholes that are still out there and when the rail gets broken, you have to fix it timely,” he said.

Vescio’s Aug. 19 letter came a few weeks after two more accidents occurred on Route 9A in the vicinity of the Pleasantville Road Bridge within an eight-day span. On July 20 at 12:45 p.m., there was a three-vehicle accident on the roadway’s northbound side caused by a commercial vehicle making a last-minute shift from the right lane to left because the driver feared he would not clear the bridge.

On July 28 at 8:33 a.m., a dump truck and a box truck were involved in an accident in the nearly identical location. The cause of the accident was deemed to be the sudden lane change by the box truck driver because the vehicle was unlikely to fit under the span in the right lane, according to the police report.

Many commercial vehicles, especially large trucks, only have enough room to clear several bridges if they travel in the left lane.

“The lack of timely maintenance of critical safety features on this roadway by NYS DOT is completely unacceptable and poses an unnecessary safety hazard to the traveling public,” Vesico wrote in his letter to MacMillan. “We request that NYS DOT immediately repair this section of damaged guide rail as well as the several others that have remained damaged and unrepaired for excessive periods of time on Route 9A through Briarcliff and Ossining.”

After being contacted by The Examiner last week, the DOT issued a statement on Monday saying that the safety of motorists is among the highest priorities for the department. The agency also acknowledged it had received Vescio’s letter and it is being reviewed.

“The safety and convenience of the traveling public are always top priorities for the New York State Department of Transportation and we continually monitor pavement conditions on State Route 9A in Briarcliff Manor, conducting maintenance as needed,” the DOT statement read.

“We are currently in receipt of the letter and are reviewing it. Additional initiatives along State Route 9A that the Department of Transportation has undertaken include targeted guide rail repairs, the installation of ground-mounted vertical clearance signs at the low bridges and a Transportation Corridor Study.”

It was announced in late April that the state had set aside $3 million to conduct a corridor study for the 10-mile stretch from Croton-on-Hudson to Mount Pleasant to see what improvements should be made. At the time of the announcement, officials said they were hopeful that the study could begin before the end of this year.

When contacted, the DOT did not address when the study might commence or whether it had put out a Request for Proposal yet.

But Vescio said that the two-mile stretch of Route 9A within Briarcliff Manor sees a consistent average of 115 to 120 accidents a year, making it one of the most dangerous stretches of the state road. He called on the DOT to expedite the study because it is likely to be years before any major improvements in the design of the 90-year-old roadway takes place.
So far none of the recent accidents have resulted in fatalities.

“It’s really a matter of time before something bad happens,” Vescio said. “Due to the lack of maintenance it’s really a bad situation.”

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