New Stop Signs Significant For West Harrison Woman

There were grumbles in town hall after the Harrison Town Board voted to along Underhill Avenue in West Harrison.

The concerns were warranted, traffic buildup has become an issue in the area and on weekday mornings people weren't happy about the possibility of more waiting time along one of the area's major through streets. But when Patricia Rome heard questions as to whether or not there was any proof that the stop signs were needed, she decided to come to town hall to share her story.

She wanted people to know that on September 11, 1987 that intersection changed her life forever.

It was on that day that a speeding driver struck Rome’s 10-year-old son as he crossed Underhill Avenue while walking down Main Street. Her son was nearly killed that day, and the family spent most of the next year at hospitals and doctor's offices as the child underwent surgeries, was fitted for casts and crutches and battled other health issues, she said.

According to Rome, many of the injuries her son sustained that day were never completely fixed.

"That accident changed his life and our family's life forever," she said.

After deciding that a stop sign at the intersection could have prevented the accident from ever taking place, Rome began to try to change the traffic pattern. For the next 20 years Rome said she petitioned to the Harrison Town Board for a stop sign. After being told Underhill Avenue is a county road, she petitioned the county government but never heard an answer.

"We had given up hope," she said, before reading recently that the stop sign she had long hoped for was finally coming to West Harrison.

When Rome heard that some people resisted the change, she decided to share her story by reading a letter thanking the board for its decision to add the new sign. She said she hopes the story will help people understand the danger at the intersection.

"We believe safety far outweighs convenience," she said.

Rome added she hopes the stop signs will prevent worse from happening to someone else's child and that her family now has the peace of mind that there won't be another family placed in the same situation.

With the stop signs now on the road, Rome concluded by saying she hopes that one day, when the town has the finances available, there will be a stoplight at the intersection.

But for now, she said her family will be happy to stop at the intersection of Underhill Avenue and Main Street and hopes after hearing her story others will feel the same way.

"We hope that while you are being inconvenienced for that moment or so you will take that time to reflect on a father who while driving home from work came upon an accident a few blocks from his home," she said. "Imagine how he felt when he realized it was his son lying face down on the side of the road."