Letter To The Editor – Manchester, Vermont Move Over! Hoosick, NY, Has The New Malfunction Junction!

To the Editor:
For years Manchester, Vermont has been known for one of the largest jokes in highway intersection history – Move over Manchester! Hoosick, NY, and the New York State Department of Transportation is giving you a run for your money! Vehicles attempting to navigate the newly designed intersection at NY Routes 7 and 22 in the area of the new bridge over the Hoosic River have seen as many as three different traffic pattern changes in the last month in an attempt to make the intersection safer. Well, the “Bananaheads” at the drawing table have managed to make it a very dangerous intersection for south bound traffic on Route 22 that wishes to turn toward the east on Route 7 toward Vermont. If they had only spent as much time considering safety as they did deciding what type of trees and shrubs to plant, this would never have to be written!
When the new bridge over the river was built, there were guardrails that were much higher than the old bridge, making it very difficult to make a left hand turn toward Vermont; you couldn’t see anything coming from Route 7 west bound. In response to complaints to the Hoosick Town Board and the NYS Dept. of Transportation, the intersection has been completely ripped up, and the turn area that directs west bound Route 7 travelers that wish to turn onto Route 22 headed north toward Hoosick Falls is now designated as a “One Way” lane. This lane is paved at least three lane-widths wide! The blacktop that went from this intersection toward Route 7 west, and now east, was completely ripped up and left and right turn lanes were installed and designated with nice large painted arrows!  The dangerous part comes in when traffic that desires to turn left onto NY Route 7 east has to wait for traffic that is attempting to turn right onto Route 7 west and traffic that is turning from Route 22 north bound. Vehicles cannot be seen because they are being blocked by vehicles on the right and straight ahead!
The logical fix for the traffic debacle was to cut down the height of the guardrails on the bridge to the same size as the ones on the old bridge, right? Well, while the contractors were re-designing and re-paving, they were also cutting down the height of the guardrails. And they still changed the traffic pattern to one of the most dangerous intersections that I have ever seen! Drive through it, and see for yourself, but I caution you, be very careful!
My concern is for the safety of those who travel through this area every day! As a member of the local fire department, I shudder at the thought of the accidents that will be occurring in this intersection as traffic that is traveling straight through headed east on Route 7 is traveling at 45 mph, or higher speeds, and have no regard for the vehicles that are attempting to also join them on their east bound journey!
Come on NYS Department of Transportation – lets get it right! Make it safe for everyone. Use your heads and re-design it like the intersection used to be now that the guardrails have been downsized before someone gets killed.
Leo Surdam, III
Hoosick, NY