Times Herald-Record
Orange County, NY — A state contractor is set to begin installing a metal barrier in the middle of Route 17 next month to prevent cars from crossing the grassy median and colliding with oncoming traffic.

The Department of Transportation had planned to do the work in 2009 but moved up its schedule after a spate of deadly crossover crashes, including one in October in Chester that killed a young New York City couple and left their 10-month-old daughter an orphan.

State Set to Install Rt. 17 Median Barriers

Times Herald-Record

Orange County, NY — A state contractor is set to begin installing a metal barrier in the middle of Route 17 next month to prevent cars from crossing the grassy median and colliding with oncoming traffic.

The Department of Transportation had planned to do the work in 2009 but moved up its schedule after a spate of deadly crossover crashes, including one in October in Chester that killed a young New York City couple and left their 10-month-old daughter an orphan.

In response to the public outcry that followed that October crash, the DOT said it would install a barrier on Route 17 across much of Orange County this year — a 16-mile stretch from the Thruway in Harriman to Interstate 84 in the Town of Wallkill.

True to its word, the DOT awarded a $5.5 million contract last week to low-bidder Elderlee Inc. of Oaks Corners. The project is expected to begin in May and be completed by the end of the year.

Although the barriers pose their own risks to drivers who run off the road, they do stop the sort of horrific, head-on collisions that have plagued Route 17 in southern Orange County.

On Oct. 9, Sam and Rebecca Blyakher were heading east on that road, returning to Manhattan after spending Columbus Day weekend in Pennsylvania, when a westbound SUV crossed the median without braking and smashed into their car, police said.

The couple died instantly, becoming the fifth and sixth people killed in crossover crashes within just 15 months, all on a three-mile stretch of Route 17 in southern Orange.

But even before the DOT could follow through on its barrier promise, another fatal crash occurred. In January, Colleen Banks, a 45-year-old Middletown woman, died when her SUV swerved across the median in Chester and collided with an oncoming SUV.

The DOT plans to continue extending its median barrier westward through Orange and Sullivan counties as part of its conversion of Route 17 into Interstate 86. Work on the western Orange County portion will begin next year, DOT spokesman Josh Ribakove said yesterday.

When DOT officials announced the accelerated barrier schedule last year, they blamed “many” of the recent crashes on speeding and said they would consider returning the 65 mph speed limit on Route 17 to 55 mph. Nothing more has been said about lowering the speed limit. State police who investigated the crossover crashes highlighted by the Times Herald-Record in an October article didn’t attribute any of them to speeding.

One Comment

  • ANGRY DRIVER

    ITS ABOUT TIME. PLUS NOW THE COPS WONT BE ABLE TO HIDE ANYMORE BEHIND THOSE OVER-PASS SUPPORTS AND CATCH US AS WE ARE ON THE WAY TO UPSTATE FOR SHABOSS. ANTI SEMITES THAT THEY ARE.