To the Editor:

Route 20 in Guilderland can be difficult to enter, traverse, and exit, as drivers seek to get to destinations during rush hours. To alleviate this issue to an extent, changes to traffic flow during peak travel periods are in order.

Eastward morning traffic tends to be heavier than traffic in the opposite direction, with the situation reversed in the afternoons. The key is already in place to safely expedite rush hour traffic.

Near the town offices on Route 20 at the point at which Route 146, to and from Rotterdam, intersects Route 20, and then to the intersection of Route 20 and Fuller Road, use the center turn lane as a Variable Travel Direction (VTD) lane.

This lane would, during morning and afternoon rush hours, be used to travel in the direction of the majority of traffic. The current left-hand lanes of Route 20 east- and west-bound, which run counter to rush hour traffic, would, during rush hours, become the turn lanes, to cross traffic and exit Route 20.

Such a change would require changes to traffic-control devices, signs, road markings, as well as publicity, and coordinated law-enforcement patrols on Route 20, to demonstrate and reinforce the correct flow of traffic.

Additionally, the traffic lights on Route 20 should be coordinated to provide a more rapid transit of the road, during peak traffic. The increased police patrols, operating in the new VTD lanes, at the speed limit, would lead by example, to minimize danger from wrongway drivers.

A change is in order for rush hour traffic on Route 20 in Guilderland.

Edgar Tolmie

Altamont