Village Board, Residents Discuss Traffic Changes at Busy Intersection

Babylon Village officials are considering re-designing the intersection of Litchfield Avenue and Route 109 to slow down northbound traffic and improve safety conditions for pedestrians and children in the residential neighborhood.

The village is proposing sharpening the angle of the northbound turn in hopes drivers will be forced to reduce speed. A packed house of residents attended an informational meeting held at village hall Wednesday night to discuss the proposal which village officials are likely to approve.

Village trustees Deborah Basile, Alice Vandervelt, Kevin Muldowney, and Tony Davida were in attendance as were Skip Gardner, the village highway department head, Assistant Fire Chief Scott Glenn, and Gordon Canary, district office manager for Senator Owen Johnson.

The proposed plan calls for the curb to be extended from its current location to discourage drivers from maintaining their Route 109 speeds when they turn onto the residential Litchfield Avenue.

The initiative for a remedy was led by Litchfield residents Fred and Laura Horvath who did a petition drive to have the village investigate the speed and safety issues. Village officials then asked traffic experts to come up with a plan.

During the meeting residents offered up other potential solutions such as making the road a one-way venue.

Canary said Johnson supports the village's proposed action plan.

"This project is ready to go tomorrow. If we change it now, it will be another year before we are ready to go again. We can reevaluate after a year and see if safety has improved," he said.

Muldowney noted that "there isn't a street in the village that doesn't suffer from speeding," and village officials will made a decision given the feedback from the meeting.

"I'd like to think we will move forward with this," said Muldowney.