Lansingville Road – Rural Tompkins County

“All Roads Lead to Cornithaca” – “Rise of the Evil Ones” – “Local Government Communications”

It happened again. Mr. “Hope-a-dope.” We were told; “You already have my support there” by our County representative; and “You’ll need the signatures of people on the road” – which we did – but when we finished our part: he refused to acknowledge or respond to any of our communications.

We were fools to believe. The only question is whether we were just tricked into wasting time and energy to weaken our resolve — or whether they needed the time to put something over behind the scenes.

Asking for the government’s help in Tompkins County; merely gives advance warning of a problem that needs to be covered up, or a public action that needs to be quashed.

Little Black Boxes

It’s sometimes helpful to think of local and municipal government policy as little black boxes.

Frequently the policy inside is fully finished, and hidden from sight until its presentation.

Cause and effect are replaced by undisclosed bureaucratic processes and behind-the-scenes communications.

Tompkins County’s never-once-mentioned policy towards traffic control on Lansingville Road is contained within one of these bureaucratic “black boxes.”

After many months of complaints about the noise and reckless behavior of hundreds of thru-cutting dump trucks and tractor trailers to representatives, and requesting a weight limit on our road; the County Highway Department Supervisor assured our representative that there was nothing but agricultural activity.

We sent photos of a number of different dump trucks with gravel plainly visible, and there was silence for a while. Suddenly signs appeared from the County Highway Department stating a limit of “20 Tons” [a sign that is commonly reserved for bridges]; effectively short-circuiting our efforts. [The signs used to stop thru-truck traffic on other local roads have a “4 Ton” limit.]

Recently there has been an even greater upswing in large truck activity on Lansingville Road; especially from one company. Yesterday, when these trucks were followed, they were found to be traveling to and from the site of a 2-year bridge construction project on a state highway. It had been announced that heavy and large trucks would be detoured onto other state highways to avoid small roads and hamlets.

Our email of these findings got no response. Today, there were no big trucks on Lansingville Road.

Is this a coincidence?

Maybe County authorities are reaching out to the State to cut off any chance of our blocking large trucks, or they’re writing a new truck policy with an appendix; like Lansing Town Zoning did when they zoned all “sexually oriented businesses” for rural neighborhoods only.

The rural people of Tompkins County have no oversight or clear view of its policy making; and no right to vote on its policies, or even have their questions answered.

What is going on inside this “black box”?

We have an idea . . .

The Lansingville Road Incident

I have frequently blogged about what has happened after the fact; but this blog is about something that hasn’t happened yet:

Traffic control on Lansingville Road.

These blogs will update readers on the effort being made to establish traffic management on this beleaguered rural road.

What is Lansingville Road?

It’s a 20ft wide north-south strip of asphalt with narrow gravel shoulders, sandwiched in between two New York State highways less than 4 miles apart.

Then why take Lansingville Road?

There is no traffic management whatsoever. The County’s policy of ignoring the rural community, and refusing to patrol or manage traffic on this road; means that drivers can drive however they want, at whatever speed they want. Even drivers with commercial licenses feel no need to follow the laws.

The mean speed on Lansingville Road has increased 5 mph in the last three years alone, and the 85th percentile is up to 62 mph; despite local and farm traffic traveling under 45 mph. In a 2019 speed volume check: vehicles were recorded at speeds of up to 90 mph.

Gravel trucks coming from the next county sometimes make hundreds of trips a day on Lansingville; roaring up and down the middle of the narrow roadway and further destroying its already cracking surface.

Last week I saw a Town dump truck and two cars passing a farm tractor with agricultural equipment, traveling as a single unit, across a double-yellow line into the opposite lane, and on a curve. And this is an everyday example of the reckless driving plaguing this once quiet and safe roadway.

My neighbor tells of how he used to walk the entire 1,600 foot length of his long driveway and not see one vehicle passing by on the road. Now, he has to wait for four or five cars and trucks just to have enough space to run across the road to his mailbox.

Why isn’t something being done?

The County Highway supervisor has twice stated [even in the face of photographic proof] that this truck traffic “was found to be Agriculture Trucks cutting the fields.”

An Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council representative put the issue off with talk of petitions and documentation; but ended by stating that their final decisions were made of the basis of the “greater good.”

Will the County’s concern for the safety and welfare of the rural community ever rise above the convenience and profit of the Collegiate Corporations and their cronies?

No.

I will blog as events unfold.

All this morning, every 15 or 20 minutes, a cement mixer thundered by. [Probably carrying cuttings from the fields.]