Archive: Opinions

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to you today with regards to the intersection of Sapsucker Woods Road and Route 13. Recently a sign was put up which made left turns illegal and, during a ticketing spree which lasted only 2 hours on Thursday June 12th, local law enforcement issued 25 tickets at this intersection.

This move to redirect traffic at this intersection in such a way defies all common sense.  The signage to advertise this change is woefully inadequate. When a traffic pattern that has existed for decades is suddenly changed, it is unreasonable to assume that one small, poorly placed sign would be sufficient to warn the majority of motorists who travel that route. 25 tickets issued in 2 hours is a clear indication of how ineffective this change has been.

Two officers were giving out tickets on Thursday and neither was making any effort to be inconspicuous. Both were parked in marked cars on the shoulder of the road in plain sight, clearly visible, waiting for people to turn left. 3-4 vehicles were pulled over at a time, and cars continued to stream left out of the intersection onto Route 13 as the officers were writing tickets. It is extremely difficult to believe that so many people would deliberately break the law in direct view of an officer whom they knew was watching them.

The traffic from Route 13 is so dense that motorists can be waiting at this intersection for upwards of 5-10 minutes or longer. Some drivers attempt to rush dangerously into the intersection and others do not even bother to stop at the stop sign because they don't want to be delayed.

If motorists are already failing to obey the existing signage then all this change has done is to add insult to injury and made the Hanshaw Road construction even more of a headache. People will still rush through any break in the Route 13 traffic, only now they will be going straight rather than turning.

Motorists have already started making U-turns on Brown Road and it is only a matter of time until an accident occurs there. The root of the problem is the increased traffic at this intersection from the Hanshaw Road construction.

A better solution would be to install a temporary traffic light to ease the congestion. The only benefit this solution brings is increased revenue from the tickets that are issued by officers who are well aware that motorists will unknowingly break the law. This kind of ineffective and inconsiderate restriction upon the motorists who use this intersection is unacceptable.

Paul Gesslein
Ithaca, NY
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