Liberty, NY - Road Puts Locals in a Danger

Liberty, NY - The "stop ahead" sign and the sign admonishing trucks to use low gear for the descent along Ferndale-Loomis Road don't seem to be enough to get drivers to slow down as they approach the intersection with Ferndale Road.

The most recent crash happened just a few weeks ago, when a bus full of boys from a summer camp careened through the T intersection with Ferndale Road and into the Middle Mongaup River.
The Town of Liberty and many of the people who live there want to do something about Ferndale-Loomis Road. Supervisor Frank DeMayo said at the board meeting that he'll look into hiring a traffic consultant to help find a fix. An expert's opinion could also help get grants to pay for solutions, he said.
"That's a serious issue coming down that hill, and we've been lucky," DeMayo said.

This isn't about summer people, they said. Locals who use the winding, unlined Ferndale-Loomis Road as a shortcut from western Sullivan to Route 17 are a problem year-round. A garbage truck, a dump truck, a convertible - all have ended up in the Middle Mongaup. "The local people abuse that hill," they said.