To the Editor:

Awhile ago, we sent an email to New Scotland Town Supervisor Douglas LaGrange regarding a concern we had with Cass Hill Road. We live near the beginning of Cass Hill Road close to Route 443.

Our property borders a very challenging, sharp, 60-degree uphill/downhill turn in the road. This turn has been the location of several accidents in the few years we have lived here.

Difficult to negotiate in a personal vehicle, the corner is more problematic, particularly in winter, for tractor trailers that periodically try to come up the road. Most truck drivers who are familiar with the road, I would suspect, avoid using the road due to the difficult corners, steep grade, and the little to no shoulders.

However, it appears some drivers not familiar with the road choose it because their GPS shows that it is a shortcut to Rensselaerville. We have had large trucks stuck at our corner for upwards to two hours.

This  becomes a larger problem as it effectively closes the road to any traffic. If a first responder needed to get anywhere beyond this corner while a truck was stuck, it would be necessary to make a detour of several miles adding minutes to critical response times.

Supervisor LaGrange handed our concerns to town Highway Superintendent Ken Guyer. Ken has been very responsive in the past regarding concerns we had about our stretch of road.

He was responsible for posting reduced-speed and curve signage near our corner. Yesterday we noticed that though Ken’s and the town’s efforts, Cass Hill Road now has new signage restricting truck traffic to local delivery only.

We would like to thank Superintendent Guyer, Supervisor LaGrange, and the town board for their efforts to make our road safer. This is a fine example of citizens successfully working with their local government to improve their community.

Michael and Kathy Aikey

New Scotland