New York State Route 302

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NY Route 302

Length:

10.46 mi^[1] (16.83 km)

South end:

NY 17M near Middletown

Major
junctions:

NY 17 near Middletown

North end:

NY 52 in Pine Bush

Counties:

Orange

Numbered highways in New York
< NY 301		NY 303 >
Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference

New York State Route 302 is a state highway in southern New York, entirely within Orange County. The southern terminus is located at Rockville. The northern terminus is located at Pine Bush.

1 Route description
2 History
3 Major intersections
4 References

[edit] Route description

NY 302 begins at the intersection with NY 17M just north of the hamlet of Rockville, the intersection being controlled by a traffic signal. It proceeds northward towards the hamlet of Circleville, first crossing over the defunct O&W RR. Although there are no longer any tracks, the railbed is visible in each direction, one direction going towards Middletown and the other direction going towards Fair Oaks. After that, the road intersects with NY 17 at its interchange 119, with access to both direction of NY 17 being available. NY 302 crosses over NY 17 and proceeds towards Circleville.

Circleville

Narrow, two-lane section south of Pine Bush with panoramic view of the Shawangunk Ridge.

In Circleville, the intersection with Goshen Turnpike is also controlled by a traffic signal. NY 302 then continues to Bullville, intersecting there with NY 17K. This intersection is also controlled by a traffic signal. NY 302 continues through the hamlet of Thompson Ridge, with panoramic views of the nearby Shawangunk Ridge along the way due to the many open meadows of surrounding horse farms. At Pine Bush, it terminates at the intersection with NY 52, which is also controlled by a traffic signal, just east of the bridge coming in from Ulster County over the Shawangunk Kill.

[edit] History

In April 2006 the deaths of four teenagers at Pine Bush High School in two separate accidents along the stretch of 302 between Roberson Avenue and Crans Mill Road just north of Bullville led the school district to ask the state Department of Transportation to do something about what residents considered a deadly stretch of highway. Since all seven of the district's schools are either on or close to the highway, its officials fear that a school bus could be involved in the next fatal accident.^[2]

It has claimed other lives in recent years as well, as development has increased in the area. Residents have joined the district in pleading for safety improvements, such as a lower speed limit on the whole road (there are no less than six speed limit changes on a road that is just over ten miles long), the removal of large trees close to the roadway, a double-yellow line banning passing in the opposite lane (the driver in the April crash had just passed five cars when he was hit), a widening of the stretch (currently only two lanes with passing permitted in either direction) and traffic lights at the intersections with Black Hawk Road and Orange County Route 48.^[3]

Within a week of the deaths, state troopers had put up flashing warning signs at both ends of the segment.^[4] The district made available form letters on its website to DOT commissioner Thomas Madison and other elected officials in the region to request the more permanent improvements.^[5] However, many in the area said the road was not as much to blame for the accident as the teenaged drivers of the cars that crashed.^[6] A DOT study later endorsed that conclusion, although the state said it would make some safety improvements.^[7]

Town police began to make their presence felt along the road, stopping traffic on a recent weekend at the spot of one of the crashes to check registration and inspection stickers for validity. While that has little to do directly with whatever caused the accidents, they expressed the hope that it would remind drivers the police were on the road and that they should thus be more careful.^[8]