Personal Injury Law

Study Finds Ways to Make Chemung County Route 64 Safer Place to Drive

By Jim Reed

As a NY personal injury attorney, I am constantly helping families sort through the aftermath of auto accidents and vehicle collisions. It’s even more difficult to accept the consequences of a crash in New York when a big factor in the accident could be the everyday driving conditions at the accident site.

That’s why I was glad to see that a recent safety assessment has inspired plans for safety improvements on a busy local road. In WETM’s online Local News section, reporter Jeff Stone recently relayed a story about making County Route 64 in Big Flats a safer stretch of road.

County Route 64 swiftly became one of the busiest corridors in our region. A variety of national retail chains has plunked outlets in what was open land just a few years ago. First, stores left downtown Elmira for the mall, and now they are leaving the mall (which has its own I-86 exit) for the Consumer Square area on Route 64.

The situation has made for a lot of congestion, new signals, driver frustration and ACCIDENTS along what used to be a fairly quiet stretch of road. The road is now so busy that about 100 car accidents happened in and around County Route 64 from 2005-2007, only a three-year period.

Just think, County Route 64 was once the road that the locals took to avoid taking the busy highway.  My how times have changed….

Now, traffic changes are planned for County Rt. 64. The Elmira-Chemung Transportation Council and others conducted a safety assessment study last year on a section of the route, from Simmons Rockwell to Chambers Road.

Some of the recommendations to make Route 64 safer, without spending much money:

• Restripe the roads to provide more driving space.
• Adjust the timers on stop lights.
• Move signs or put up new ones.

Officials said that money for the improvements was already available in the county budget. Let’s hope that in the next three years, Chemung County Route 64 sees a lot fewer than 100 traffic accidents.

Thanks for reading,
Jim
_________________________________________
James B. Reed, Esq.
Personal Injury & Malpractice Attorney
Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
Tel. (607) 733-8866 Fax. (607) 732-6062
Toll Free 1-800-943-3529
mailto:jreed@zifflaw.com http://www.zifflaw.com

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Full post as published by New York Injury Law Blog on March 15, 2009 (boomark / email).