At the Aug. 22 DeWitt Town Board Meeting, a handful of residents from Kittell Road in DeWitt were present to state their concerns about traffic that often cuts through their neighborhood from Route 5 to get to Maple Drive quicker, a problem some believe puts their families in danger.
“We have been having this issue for at least the past 20 years. And the problem is traffic has been increasing over the years,” said Kittell Road resident Tony Anello. “There have been a number of things done over the years to remedy the problem, but the fact is we’re in a situation where it’s getting worse and we need a solution today.”
Currently, if a car is traveling west on Genesee Street (Route 5) in front of Wegmans, there is a “no left turn” sign indicating cars are not allowed to turn left onto Kittell Road, and Anello said cars often make an illegal left turn from Genesee Street in order to beat the light at the intersection of Maple Drive in order to get to that road quicker. Often times, these cars are going at a fast speed in order to make the left turn, said Anello, putting the lives of pedestrians on Kittell Road at risk — and they continue to speed down Kittell Road.
Alternatively, Anello said he has witnessed many times where cars driving north on Maple Drive take a right onto Hobson Lane in order to beat the light on Genesee Street, and sometimes make an illegal left turn from Kittell Road to Genesee Street.
Maple Drive is the main road that leads to Jamesville-DeWitt High School and Anello said once the school year begins, the traffic problems worsen although the school district reminds students and staff that Kittell Road is not to be used as a cut-through road.
“I am one of the newest homeowners on the road and I have a young daughter who can’t even go outside to ride her bike because I fear for her safety with some of the cars that speed through there,” said one resident. “If I had known about the amount of traffic there was when I bought my house three years ago, I wouldn’t have bought it.”
Town Supervisor Ed Michalenko said he has met with Anello on several occasions to find a solution to remedy the problem. In the past, the town of DeWitt had requested to the New York State Department of Transportation to put a curved traffic triangle at the intersection of Kittell Road so only right turns can be made in and out of the road, but the request was denied.
Anello said some other solutions to the problem are to increase the police presence on that road and ticket for illegal left turns, to make the road a cul-de-sac, to put a “No Thru Traffic” sign on Hobson Road or to put a solid median in that area of Genesee Road so cars cannot make illegal left turns.
Councilor Jamie Frank, the liaison to the police commission, said he would bring the problem to the attention of the police department, although he could not guarantee they would be able to patrol the area more often.
Michalenko said putting in another request to the DOT for a traffic triangle or raised median is a possibility, but he tasked Anello to bring a petition to the residents of Kittell Road to see if they would like that in their neighborhood.
“I don’t want to begin this process and have a bunch of people come to me and say they wouldn’t want a triangle at the end of their road,” said Michaelenko.
