Briarcliff mayor demands officials fix damaged Route 9A

Briarcliff Mayor Steve Vescio has written a letter to the DOT, several elected officials, members of Congress and more begging them to do something about Route 9A.

News 12 Staff

Aug 20, 2022, 12:58 AM

Updated 781 days ago

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Briarcliff Mayor Steve Vescio has written a letter to the DOT, several elected officials, members of Congress and more begging them to do something about Route 9A.
The road, which was built in 1938, has seen little change since then. Many have complained about the road’s old age and many potholes.
The bridges on 9A contribute to major flooding and the clearance is so tight that trucks can only safely pass under in the left lane. This is a hazard because it not only causes a bottleneck effect for traffic, but drivers in the fast lane often try to speed to get around these trucks and end up crashing.
Locals say they avoid the road whenever possible.
“There are potholes everywhere," says Leslie, of Briarcliff. "Everyday people are getting punctures, there are accidents all the time."
Mayor Vescio says the guardrail also has serious issues.
“It's constantly damaged. It's laying on the ground an excessive amount of time and that not only presents a hazard for motorists but if there is an accident at the location, the guard rail is not in its place to do the job,” he described.
Mayor Vescio says he feels like a broken record at this point, but he’s going to persist.
"I'll keep repeating myself until they take action. Because there's literally lives at stake. And I've been on the scene of some of these incidents, including the gasoline tanker fire in 2004 and it is incredibly dangerous down there, it's unacceptable and the state needs to hurry up and fix it,” he stated.
So far, he has not received any responses to his letter.