The Journal has an excellent long piece up on the dangers of rural roads. I'm not surprised to find a nearby intersection (I drove through it yesterday!) heading the list for severe accidents:
East of Cornell University's sprawl and just south of Fall Creek's meandering waters, the intersection of Mount Pleasant Road and Turkey Hill Road sits at a foot of hills extending east toward Route 38.
Varna Fire Chief Roy Rizzo and his firefighters know the country crossroads well.
He wasn't surprised to hear that the intersection -- which is just a mile and a half from the Varna Fire Station -- has seen the most severe accidents of any in the county, according to Ithaca-Tompkins Transportation Council data....
Like all the surrounding roads, Mount Pleasant Road and Turkey Hill Road hug the grades and terraces of the hills. From Route 366, Mount Pleasant Road rises steeply, crosses Turkey Hill Road between two of its curves, and keeps going up.
The curves -- which lie less than 500 feet on the north and south side of the intersection-- create blind spots for drivers, Rizzo said.
"People coming in both directions need to slow down," Rizzo advised.
In his experience, most of the accidents at this intersection don't involve local residents, Rizzo said. He feels these residents have respect for the intersection.
Sadly, Mount Pleasant's intersection with 366 isn't much better, but at least traffic is (usually) moving slower there. The 13/366 intersection to my east isn't much better, either. I wish they'd posted the list of intersections, but this is a great piece overall.
Posted by simon at May 7, 2013 6:52 AM in