What Makes This Part of 9W Scary in Highland, NY?

I refer to it as the scary part of my ride home. I go the same way when I go to work but for some reason in the morning it doesn't seem so bad but that may be because it isn't dark out yet.

I am one of the many people in the Hudson Valley that travels on 9W through the town of Highland. Every day I drive it on the southbound side to get to work and then my return trip has me heading up the northbound side as I head home.

A Scary Place to Drive on 9W in Highland

So what is so scary about driving on that stretch of road between the Speedway and the Mobil Station up the road? It is that the sidewalk runs out. You might say that lots of roads don't have sidewalks, but this one very often has pedestrians. For people who walk from their homes into town, they have to walk on the side of 9W.

The southbound side is scary but the northbound side in my opinion is much worse. The road is 2 lanes in both directions but it narrows and the speed limit increases to 55 MPH on the northbound side.

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Almost every time I drive through that part of the road I encounter a person or two walking on the shoulder of the road because they are traveling to or from town. In the business district, there is a portion of the road that has sidewalks but then they run out on both sides of 9W.

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Years ago I never really noticed people walking back and forth on this portion of 9W. I am specifically talking about the part between Upper Grand Street and Milton Ave on the west side and White Street and Grand Street on the East side. It seems most pedestrians use the northbound side where the sidewalk ends after White Street.

What Would Cause More Pedestrians on 9W in Highland?

Over the years they have redone the apartments and resident hotels in that area. A dollar general has been built up the road plus other businesses and an apartment complex have been built closer to the Mid Hudson Bridge. It just seems that so many more people living on that part of the road either the town or the state should consider a sidewalk before someone gets hurt.

I am sure it is complicated to put a sidewalk on a state road with a 55 MPH speed limit. One might say that people could walk on the side streets but at some point, they would still have to cross 9W. At the intersection of 9W and Upper Grand, there isn't even a crosswalk.

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