New York officials are urging drivers to exercise caution with heavy rain and storms forecast this week.
With Tropical Storm Debby approaching, New York State Police Major Christopher Gilroy says motorists should treat unlit stoplights as full stops in the event of power outages, and be aware of their surroundings.
“Never assume traffic coming from another direction knows or understand they also need to stop. While failing to treat the dark traffic control device as a stop sign is a violation of the New York State vehicle and traffic law, and is punishable of three points to the motorists driving record and a fine of up to $243 for a first-time conviction, our biggest concern is safety and crash prevention,” Gilroy said.
On average, there are 250 dark-signal crashes annually in New York.
If a stoplight is out, motorists are asked to report the outage to their county non-emergency line, as well as state and local highway departments.
Mike Fenley is a traffic engineer with the state transportation department’s Region One, which stretches from Essex to Greene Counties. He says once the call comes in a state light is out.
“We would immediately call up our traffic signal maintenance staff- that are housed at a different location from here-, and they would be deployed to go out and check the signal and have a generator on hand,” Fenley said.
DOT Regional Director Mike Arthur says preparedness is especially important, noting widespread light outages after a tornado tore through the Oneida County city of Rome in late July.
“We had meetings with the National Weather Service prior to the storm events. We get out and make sure all our drains are clear. You know, for flooding, that's that the drains aren't going to be clogged, you know, and we talk about which areas are going to be hit the worst, what do we expect to happen?” Arthur said.
Arthur says the DOT is keeping eyes on downstate after parts of the Hudson Valley and Long Island received several inches of rain Tuesday.
The National Weather Service is predicting several inches of rain will fall across the Capital Region Friday into Saturday. Governor Kathy Hochul says the Capital Region, North Country, Mohawk Valley, Mid-Hudson and Southern Tier could see up to five inches of rain by Friday night as remnants of Tropical Storm Debby reach the state. Hochul says parts of the lower Mid-Hudson region could experience damaging wind gusts of up to 45 miles per hour and tornadoes.
Several state agencies, including the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, have been deployed to support local governments’ requests for assistance. Hochul says New Yorkers should stay off roads and have supplies like first aid kits and essential medicines on hand.
