Changes Sought to Make Parkway Exit to Irvington Safer
By Rick Pezzullo—
Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner is spearheading a petition calling for safety improvements on an exit off the Saw Mill River Parkway that leads to Irvington.
In a recent letter to the state Department of Transportation, Feiner urged officials to commission an independent traffic consultant to study the problematic intersection at Exit 7A (Mountain Road in E. Irvington) and implement upgrades.
“There is a stop sign there that is barely heeded, and speeding cars passing in a particularly blind spot make this very treacherous for many to navigate,” Feiner stated.
Feiner stated the petition was triggered by a letter from a citizen, followed by a slew of responses from other residents.
“Citizens followed with many letters, emails and calls (35 and counting) offering many suggestions—the consensus being, the problem is complicated and might require a traffic study, with multiple solutions likely needed,” Feiner stated. “Some suggest removing overgrown foliage (and installing a pervious cap to stop further growth), adding more aggressive signage, adding speed bumps/rumble strips, changing traffic lines, moving the stop sign closer to Mountain Road, or converting the stop sign to a full traffic light from multiple sides.”
Two homeowners who contacted Feiner wrote: “As residents of East Irvington for the past 33 years we have long been concerned about the danger of this intersection. We are in complete agreement that this intersection is an accident waiting to happen as drivers merging onto Saw Mill River Parkway simply do not see any cars trying to enter the Parkway from Mountain Road. I have had close calls over the years with drivers accelerating past the stop sign while looking at the traffic on the Parkway in order to merge, yet ignoring the cars entering from Mountain Road, which have the right-of-way.”
Another resident wrote: “I use Mtn Rd. quite a bit when going down to Ardsley etc., and agree that the merge lanes are very awkward and potentially hazardous. A speed bump 20 ft. back would be a good addition, and perhaps also a flashing stoplight. People do seem to take the stop sign with a grain of salt. Ultimately it would be good to extend the length of the onramp as well, or widen it so that Mtn. Rd traffic could turn on to the right lane, while the other merge lane could stay to the left.”
A link to the online petition can be found on the Town of Greenburgh’s website.
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