If it hasn’t already happened by the time this reaches print, in the very near future, the intersection at Main Street and North Avenue in Owego will be undergoing some changes – a left turn lane will be going away.
Although the lane restructuring that is occurring is located in the Village of Owego, Mayor Kevin Millar explained that the change was not the village’s decision or idea. Because Main Street is a state road, the new road markings were suggested by the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT).
DOT decisions do not require any voter approval, although on Oct. 30 the department did opt to hold a public meeting for discussion of the planned changes. Millar said that, at the presentation, “I do not recall that they had much opposition.”
The change was prompted by a high number of accidents at that intersection, including a number of accidents caused by trucks attempting to turn right from North Avenue onto Main Street.
The new traffic pattern will effectively remove the left turn lane going from Main Street to North Avenue. Currently, there are two lanes on Main Street approaching North Avenue from the west. The current left turn lane will be a painted gore area and the existing through lane will become a lane for both left turns and through traffic. The change is intended to allow trucks turning right onto Main Street from North Avenue to make the turn without crossing over into the left turn lane from Main Street.
Millar said that there has been some concern that the new traffic pattern could create a backup on Main Street, but the DOT has already made changes to minimize the impact. He said, “There was some concern about traffic backing up on Main Street, and that’ll probably happen. I think the major concern was that people on Main Street would block the turn onto Park Street and out of Court Street.”
To address that, a “No Right Turn on Red” sign has already been added on Court Street at the intersection with Main Street. The hope is that prohibiting right turns on red coming from Court Street onto Main Street will mitigate the possibility of congestion.
