Description

Be warned in The Village of Ballston Spa; the “T”-intersection at South Street and Division Street (FYI Division Street is at the extreme southern end of Greenfield Avenue) is becoming more and more hazardous to navigate. Over recent years there has been a growing number of “close-call” accidents. Local residents choosing to legally park on South Street in the vicinity of this intersection unintentionally block the view of drivers attempting to turn onto South Street from Division Street from any on-coming vehicles approaching from the LEFT. Drivers wishing to turn onto South Street at the Division Street intersection have to pull an unsafe distance into the intersection, beyond the parked vehicles (at least as far as their driver’s window) to see if there are any approaching vehicles (they would obviously have to yield to). Once they are out in the intersection they become not only vulnerable but “at fault” once out there in the flow of oncoming traffic it could be too late for an approaching inattentive driver to be able to avoid an accident with them. At this time, only the Division Street portion of the intersection is controlled with a Stop Sign. In the unfortunate case of an accident, (aside from the possibility of serious resulting injuries) guess who would most likely be at fault for pulling into oncoming traffic unsafely and justifiably so? I’m willing to venture a guess that I’m not alone with at least one or more near-misses at that intersection. This has always been a challenging intersection whenever parked vehicles obscure the view of on-coming traffic. The opposite end of Division Street is controlled with a blinking ALL-WAY stoplight as well as appropriately added Stop Signs and has been controlled that way for as long as I’ve been driving. Does anyone have a comment or personal experience they’d like to add to this Fix It entry??? Maybe suggest adding the ever-popular round-about or perhaps the more costly but proven to be functional clover-leaf or possibly suggest to make Division Street One-Way heading only away from the hazardous intersection at South Street would help reduce this on going hazard. Possibly something as simple as another ALL-WAY stoplight on South Street as well as at the lower end of Division Street would not only help but also probably completely cure this hazard once and for all. FYI: Earlier this year, Village or Town Of Milton Planners (I’m not sure if who has jurisdiction) placed All-Way stop signs at lower end of Bath Street to “better” control what I consider to be a less hazardous situation than the one currently existing at the “T”-intersection of Division and South Streets in the “North End” of our lovely village…
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