New York State Senator James Skoufis and Assemblyman Karl Brabenec were at the Slate Hill Fire Department Monday to push for the approval of a so-called “crash gate:” a highway access point used by emergency personnel to respond more quickly to the scene of an accident.
The Slate Hill Fire Department is located between Exits 4 and 15, a more than 10-mile stretch on I-84. That means whenever there’s a crash on the highway, firefighters have to drive all the way to one of those exit ramps, usually Exit 15, and then backtrack to the crash site.
Skoufis, a Democrat from the 42nd district, says those extra minutes can mean life or death.
"It's impossible to calculate how many lives over the years and forthcoming would and will be saved by this crash gate — but lives will be saved by this crash gate," he adds. "And this isn't some luxury, this isn't something that the firefighters here would just like to have. This is something they need to do their job as volunteers."
The effort is getting renewed attention after a bus carrying 40 Long Island high school students to a band camp in Pennsylvania careened off I-84, rolling down an embankment and killing two adults on board. While the investigation is ongoing, officials have said a faulty front tire may have been a factor in the wreck.
Slate Hill Fire Department Chief Michael Dally says it's the third fatal crash on that stretch of I-84 in as many months. Dally says one of the department’s assistant chiefs was nearby in a smaller company vehicle at the time, so luckily, he was able to reach the scene soon afterward — but typically, Dally estimates getting a firetruck from the station to a site on I-84 can take as long as 17 minutes.
"Also, in a situation like we had the other day, there tends to be a lot of traffic that they encounter. If the road has been shut down due to an incident, we have to battle through this traffic to get to the incident scene," Dally explains. "The first hour after the occurrence of a traumatic injury is known as the Golden Hour. It is considered the most critical for successful emergency treatment. And each year we respond to the interstate an average of 35 times — which may not sound like a lot, but it's close to once a week. And it's about 10 minutes that we could save each time we go out there."
Dally says fire departments in Orange County have been asking for crash gates on I-84 for the past 20 years. He’d especially like to see one where County Route 49 crosses underneath the interstate – that represents, roughly, the midpoint of Slate Hill’s fire district, and it would grant equal access to the interstate’s east and westbound lanes. But so far, Dally says efforts to greenlight the project have been unsuccessful, and knowing which agency to go to has been tricky. Skoufis and Brabenec say jurisdiction of I-84 has changed hands multiple times over the years. Now, they believe the Federal Highway Administration is the place to go.
Brabenec, a Republican from the Assembly’s 98th district, says an application will be filed with the FHWA in the coming weeks.
"We are going to reach out to all actors: the governor's office, [the Department of Transportation], also the federal government, our congressman, Congressman Pat Ryan," he notes. "Anywhere we can go to get this and make this a reality, we are going to do it."
The FHWA did not respond to a request for comment. Even if it received approval from the federal government, the project would still require funding from the state. Skoufis estimates the cost would be, at most, in the “low, single-digit millions of dollars.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Governor Kathy Hochul tells WAMC the Democrat will help with the application, adding: “The safety of all New Yorkers is Governor Hochul’s top priority, and she is committed to doing everything possible to assist emergency personnel respond quickly to accidents.”
