Schumer Launches Three-Pronged Effort To Make Roads Safer For residents In Westchester & Rockland County' Will Call On Feds To Analyze Dangerous Roads And Intersections, Make Safety Recommendations & Then Implement Them To Help Prevent Future Accidents

Press Release

Standing at Saxon Woods Park near the entrance towards Hutchinson Parkway/Mamaroneck Ave, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today launched a three-pronged effort to analyze dangerous roads and intersections in the Lower Hudson Valley, make safety recommendations, and then implement them to prevent potentially numerous accidents from happening again. Schumer explained this effort comes on the heels of a recent Journal News report that revealed concerning data in which 133 sections of roadway in the Lower Hudson Valley were listed as having some of the highest crash rates in the state. Among these, 12 specific road sections between Westchester and Rockland Counties are considered to be highly dangerous. In the wake of this information, Schumer said the federal government must step up to the plate and work with locals in both counties to identify areas of roadway that are in desperate need of improvements in order to improve road safety.

Therefore, first, Schumer urged the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to work with locals to analyze these roads and intersections, in order to identify particular roadways that could use immediate improvements and could benefit most from federal assistance. Following this collaboration, Schumer said the FHWA should conduct a Road Safety Audit (RSA) on these sections of road to develop recommendations to improve safety on Lower Hudson Valley roadways. Finally, Schumer is urging the FHWA to then give the highest priority for federal funding to the recommended remedies that result from the audit and implement them, in order to prevent numerous accidents from happening in Westchester and Rockland County communities.

"Westchester and Rockland Counties have some of the highest crash rates in the state, and we must use every tool at our disposal to analyze why and make desperately needed safety improvements. The Journal News' alarming report is a wake-up call that a traffic safety overhaul is desperately needed at several of these area roads and that is why I am calling for the experts at the Federal Highway Administration to conduct a 'Road Safety Audit' and then work with local officials to implement safety improvements that prevent crashes and save lives. Many local communities have already laid the groundwork for action, but we need federal expertise and technical support to identify and help fund the best possible improvements on these troubling sections of roadway," said Schumer.

Schumer continued, "Additionally, I am calling on the FHWA to prioritize federal funding for any safety recommendations produced by this safety audit, so that construction and improvements can get underway as soon as possible. These dangerous sections of road have been witness to a handful of accidents before, and it is high time we take steps to address safety hazards before it is too late."

Schumer explained that, according to a recent Journal News analysis of NY State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) data, the Lower Hudson Valley has 133 sections of roadway that have some of the highest crash rates in New York State. According to the report, many of these road segments have significantly more accidents than the state average for a similar roadway. Of these, there are 12 specific road sections between Westchester and Rockland Counties that are considered to be highly dangerous. For example, Schumer said in 2014, a stretch of Route 202 in Haverstraw was ranked among the twenty most accident-prone sections of road in the state with more than ten times the number of accidents as a similar roadway. In Westchester, the Hutchinson River Parkway, near Mamaroneck Avenue, is also considered one of the more troublesome roadway segments. Stretches of densely traveled parkways like the Saw Mill River and Cross County are also high on the list. As a result, Schumer said serious steps must be taken to improve these sections of roadway that have proven dangerous to motorists and where concerning crash site trends have emerged.

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