Lewis County to receive nearly $2.5 million in DOT funding to enhance roadway safety

ALBANY, NY- Over $43 million of funding from the second round of New York DOT’s comprehensive “Safe System” approach has been awarded to local governments statewide to help improve and enhance roadway safety by reducing instances of vehicles inadvertently straying from their lanes and lessening the severity of those types of crashes.

This announcement blossoms from the office of Governor Kathy Hochul, as the initiative is designed to support roadway improvements, including things like new guide rails, signs, and pavement markings.

Here in the North Country, Lewis County has been allotted nearly $2.5 million to install barriers at several locations, including Bickford Road, River Road, Worth Road, McCue Road, Fork Road, River Street, County Route 50, Davis Bridge Road, Belfort Road, County Route 29, Whitesville Road, Liberty Road, Statzer Road and Kotary Road.

According to data cited by the Governor’s Office, nearly 44-percent of crash fatalities occur when a vehicle departs from its lane.

“Reducing fatalities and serious injuries on our highways is the goal of New York State DOT’s ‘Safe System Approach Toward Zero Deaths’ and thanks to the unwavering support of Governor Hochul we are moving closer to achieving it," said New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez.

"Governor Hochul’s investment in public safety, specifically, the funding we are providing today to our local partners, will help create safer roads across the state, making it more likely that motorists and their passengers as well as bike and pedestrian enthusiasts will arrive at their destinations safely and without incident.”

Funding for these projects was made available through the Federal Highway Administration’s Highway Safety Improvement Program, which is intended to support the design and construction of countermeasures intended to reduce roadway/lane departures and lessen the likelihood that departure-related crashes cause death or serious injury.

Such countermeasures include, but are not limited to, enhanced striping, curve warning signs, rumble strips and median barriers.

North Country News image.