A signal light is not the answer to all traffic problems, Elmer G. H. Youngmann, district engineer for the State Department of Public Works, said today.
He added that the State Traffic Commission is studying “comprehensive reports” from the department in considering installation of a traffic light at Genesee St. and Beryl Dr. in Cheektowaga.
No immediate decision to authorize the signal, sought by the Cheektowaga Citizens Committee, is probable, the DPW engineer said. The committee said that 12 persons have been killed at the intersection in recent years.
Mr. Youngmann noted that the two most recent traffic deaths along Genesee St. were at intersections west of Beryl Dr.
He reported that “volume counts” made last summer and early fall of vehicles entering Genesee St. from Beryl Dr. indicated about 65 an hour. The minimum standard used in determining the need for a signal is 125 vehicles an hour.
Mr. Youngmann said sidewalk construction and improved street lighting, two potentially important factors in alleviating the problem that has roused citizens, are town functions.
