Early Reviews Are In for Highland’s New ‘Double’ Traffic Light

Recently, there's been a big commotion over a very small patch of road on Route 9W in Ulster County, NY.

The project, which seems relatively simple on paper, has caused a wave of worry from many Hudson Valley commuters over how the change will affect their daily drive. Now that the work is done, residents finally get to see if their theories were correct.

Roadwork in Highland, NY Adds Traffic Signal, Crosswalk, and Turning Lane

The recent activity centered around adding a crosswalk, turning lane, and an addition set of traffic signals on a 100-yard stretch of 9W in front of the Hannaford shopping plaza in Highland, NY. Some drivers were concerned that the "double" traffic signal (below) would do more harm than good.

New Traffic Light on 9W in Highland Officially Operational

This morning, Highland residents took to the Highland Community Facebook group to share their experiences, and while there were still some cautious commenters, the majority of the responses were quite positive:

Highland Community Reacts to New Traffic Light

"I know it’s only the first day, but I went in and out of Hannaford's 3 times (exited heading towards chapel hill) and it was smooth. Also the [fastest] I’ve been stopped at the light to enter the plaza… so fingers crossed it stays that way", shared one optimistic driver. "I just went thru it and the crew is still out there perfecting the timing but I’ll say it was a breeze, no difference", said another.

The Reason Behind Recent Roadwork on 9W in Highland, NY

The changes are meant to benefit residents of the Highland Hills neighborhood who exit from Mayer Drive onto the busy Route 9W. Before the recent roadwork, vehicles on Mayer Drive needed to yield to traffic from behind a stop sign. Now, there is a traffic signal for drivers and a crosswalk for pedestrians (below).