Area needs to send message against plan

Editor, OBSERVER:

I want to thank Fredonia Trustee Doug Essek for starting his petition on change.org opposing the roundabout at Routes 60 and 20. The petition touches on every reason the public should be against this proposal and I urge everyone to visit this website and sign the petition. As of Sunday, more than 1,330 people have signed it.

The state DOT is cramming this roundabout down our throats despite the overwhelming opposition to it. This is one of the busiest intersections in Chautauqua County and a roundabout will only add to the accident rate.

We need a traffic signal, not a free for all. There is a school entrance close to this project. School tax dollars will need to be used to close the entrance. There is a crosswalk there.

How do you cross the street safely with a roundabout?

Brooks Hospital plans to build at this location — another ridiculous idea — that will increase emergency vehicle traffic. This area has lost many businesses recently. Why hurt the remaining businesses? Many people will avoid this area when the roundabout is in place. Unfortunately, an important aspect of a retail business is to have an easily accessible customer location.

The DOT will spend more than $3 million to destroy this intersection without even considering the less expensive alternatives of reducing the speed limit to 30 mph and some left hand turn restrictions at the exits of some of the businesses in this area. The Rite Aid has exit restrictions that have worked quite well.

Everyone opposed to this project needs to have their voices heard. Public comments end on Feb. 12. Please send your written comments on this project ASAP to Attn: Sanjay Singh, New York State Department of Transportation, 100 Seneca Street, Buffalo, NY 14203. Business owners should initiate petitions at their place of business. Consider asking your customers to sign your petitions, collect and mail them yourself. Where are our elected officials?

Thanks Doug for standing up. Thanks McDonald’s for trying.

If this isn’t stopped, my recommendations are to find a good collision shop and hope the new hospital is completed soon with more beds. The affected businesses should find a new location closer to the Thruway.

Maybe there is new life for the D&F Plaza after all.

DAVID DIODATO,

Fredonia

Roundabout effort

hurts businesses

Editor, OBSERVER:

I have read two recent articles about the roundabout with long meridians that the DOT plans on putting at Routes 60 and 20. This will be a terrible mistake. It will have a negative impact on the businesses in that area plus the traffic congestion will be even worse.

The Fredonia school driveway is just past Tuscany on the west side of Route 20. Twice a day during school hours the police block traffic so the buses can enter and leave the school driveway. Plus businesses will not be able to have customers make left-hand turns to enter their establishments.

We continually have businesses leave our area. Are we going to drive more away from this area because people can’t turn into the business? People will stop going to those stores or restaurants after a while because of the hassle.

I have seen semi-trucks trying to maneuver the roundabout in Irving. They can’t make the turn and wind up driving over the curbs. There are quite a few semis that use Routes 60 and 20.

Besides that, there is going to be a hospital built on the east side of Route 20 near the current intersection. The decision to build the hospital near Route 20 was also a big mistake. That is going to make it even more difficult at that intersection.

What is going to happen when an ambulance is going south on Route 60 and needs to get to the new hospital on Route 20? You are supposed to pull over for an ambulance but how are you going to do that if you are in the roundabout?

That is one of the worst places to build the new hospital. There was plenty of open land on Route 60 near Williams Street. There are “land for sale” signs up all along there. But it is the same old story. Someone who knows someone and that is why it is being built there.

What will happen with all the doctor’s offices in Dunkirk? Will they be moving their offices closer to the hospital also?

The DOT talks about the number of accidents at that intersection, but does not look at the total picture of what will happen if this roundabout is built there along with a new hospital.

We needs some new businesses to come into our area, not a roundabout that will cause more trouble for the businesses already here.

SUE DIETZEN,

Dunkirk