Install a Traffic Light at the Intersection of Van Ness Road & Route 9D, in Fishkill, NY

The intersection of Interstate 84 and Route 9D is one of the busiest interchanges in Dutchess County, especially during the morning and late afternoon/evening rush periods. Van Ness Road, a dead-end street located one block south of this intersection, off Route 9D, offers no safe exit.

In the 6-year period between 2010 and 2016, 22 motor vehicle accidents at the Van Ness Rd/Route 9D intersection were reported to the NYS DOT. In the 5-month period between April and August 2017 one Van Ness resident witnessed 3 additional accidents at this intersection.

Accidents are occurring with greater frequency at this intersection, but residents and all visitors to this street have only one point of exit—onto Route 9D. If a driver’s ultimate destination is Beacon, exiting Van Ness Road onto Route 9D is a dangerous proposition regardless of whether you are making a right or a left.

Making a left turn to head south on Route 9D is difficult at best, especially during the morning and afternoon rush when drivers routinely speed along 9D to/from the Beacon train station. While there is a crosshatched section of the road to allow for drivers to cross, most commuters block the box as they wait to enter I-84 Westbound to cross the Newburgh–Beacon Bridge. During busier drive times it’s difficult to gauge whether cars are heading south on 9D into your path because a driver exiting Van Ness Road cannot see over/through the mass of cars in the turning lane.

Unfortunately, making a right turn is not much better if your ultimate destination is in the city of Beacon. If drivers choose to turn right off Van Ness Road to a turn into a block north of I-84 to safely turn around you run the risk of yet another accident at Chiappardi Place, where commuters often make a short U-turn at the very top of the street to avoid waiting in line to cross the bridge.

A traffic light must be installed at the dangerous intersection of Van Ness Rd/Route 9D not only to provide a safe exit for residents and visitors of Van Ness Road but to also protect the 22,000 drivers that pass this corner daily, and who ultimately also suffer in the accidents that occur.

The population in Beacon, New York, continues to grow as does the population of the entire lower Hudson region. At the time this petition was organized, 1100 new housing units were either in discussion, before the planning board, under construction, or already built in Beacon. If all properties are approved the population of Beacon would increase by a massive 10%. How many of these new residents will be adding to the dangerous conditions at our intersection?

These issues have not gone unnoticed by the Dutchess County Government, and have been documented for years in workshop reviews that can be found online, but we fear that the goal of pushing the commuter traffic out of the Beacon train station and over the bridge faster is trumping the safety of county residents.

We ask and urge the DOT to pre-empt a fatality by correcting this increasingly dangerous condition and installing a traffic light at this intersection.