LETTER from R. RICHARD DUNCAN

Trenches Along Roadways

Still Dangerous To Drivers

To the Editor:

“Slip sliding away…”

Her car slid toward the side of the road. It caught in the trench and flipped. She was hurt and her car totaled. She is scared to drive again. But she knows she must go out and find a new car and force herself to try again. It wasn’t her fault. If the sides of the roads were done properly she would have slid off the road and would have been able to slowly drive back onto the highway.

What on earth makes the Otsego County Highway Department think that trenches are needed, or safe? It is the responsibility of the highway department to make safe roads for traffic, be it cars, trucks, bicycles, or pedestrians.

With trenches, there is no place to pull over if an emergency vehicle comes up behind you. They cause erosion and expose the roots of old trees; that kills them.

The trenches fill in fast and need to be redone and redone. Not very economical.

If you need to pull off the road for car problems, you can’t. If you slide off the road you will probably total your car.

I slid off coming around a corner at the top of the hill one winter. My tire caught on the lip of road, flipped the car and it slid down the hill in the ditch. Over $1,000 for a new drive shaft.

In the winter, it is hard to see if there is a trench or not. In the summer the grass grows and you can’t judge the side of the road.

We pay people to take care of our roads and they are not doing it in a manner to keep us safe. We need to educate them or replace them.

If you have had a problem with car damage with trenches, write in. Maybe if enough people complain, we can get things done correctly.

R. RICHARD DUNCAN
Hartwick Forrest