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Near the border of Greenwich and Port Chester, N.Y., the intersection of West Putnam Avenue and Byram Road is one of the most traveled and accident prone roadways in town. Everyone seems to have a tale to tell of an experience at this crazy intersection.
"It is an extremely dangerous intersection," said Anisure Rahman, an employee at the Sunoco gas station near the intersection. "People are also driving very fast, and during rush hour, it's very busy."
The roadway was the scene of the fatal accident involving a nun from Virginia, who was struck by a pickup truck while she was walking. Greenwich police Lt. Kraig Gray said, "It is a uniquely configured intersection that can be tough to negotiate for both cars and pedestrians."
In a review done by the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program in 2008, West Putnam Avenue was listed with the highest total number of crashes in town and Byram Road was 13th. The report also noted that in April 2009, 145 motor vehicle crashes were reported to the police. Of those, 115 crashes had property damage.
If a motorist is coming out of Byram Road and needs to go to either Pemberwick Road or to Port Chester, they must zip across two lanes of eastbound traffic. It could be a difficult task for distracted drivers. Gray said that trailing drivers could cause minor fender-benders when they watch oncoming traffic, move forward but do not notice the car in front of them has stopped. He also said that motorists do not even need to be driving fast to get into accidents.
"I always tell people that we need signals at the intersection," Rahman said. "Or people just need to be more careful."
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