POUGHKEEPSIE – The buses operated by Dutchess County Public Transit have been creating driving hazards for motorists using the Financial Parking Deck in the city by stopping several buses along Market Street/Civic Center Plaza, rather than pulling the buses into the transportation hub in front of the parking deck.
The transportation hub has the space to accommodate at least six buses as opposed to the three, or at most four buses that pull into the bus stops. Several of the remaining buses stop along the side of the street in front of the hub. One of the lanes in the hub is usually occupied by a county SUV with a transportation worker sitting in it. The parked vehicle prevents buses from using the lane.
Instead of using the hub, buses pull over on the side of the road, making it impossible for vehicles exiting the parking deck to see around the buses to avoid oncoming traffic. Instead, the motorists are forced to inch out into a lane of traffic without knowing if a car is coming up alongside the parked bus.
To add to the congestion, several more buses use the side of the street between the hub and the westbound arterial. Many of the buses using that location for a stop are then forced to move across several lanes of traffic as they resume their routes. That hazard typically occurs at times when vehicle traffic is heaviest in the area; namely the afternoon period between 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm.
Recently there was an abundance of buses parked next to the church between the hub and the arterial that arriving buses had no place to park. One bus was unable to pull forward, leaving the back of the bus blocking part of the parking deck exit. To compound the issue, a second bus with a driver-in-training and his trainer proceeded to pull up behind the first bus, fully blocking cars trying to exit. Rather than drive the empty bus around the block until a space opened up, the bus parked and the trainer got off to check how many buses were ahead of him. …
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