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Collision on Ellicott Street in front of Southside Deli

By Billie Owens

ellicotlibaccidentfeb32019.jpg

A semi and a burgundy coupe collided at the intersection of Ellicott Street and Summit/Liberty. City fire, police and Mercy medics are on scene. Traffic was backed up in both directions, but traffic lanes are being reopened now.

The female driver of the coupe may have minor injuries and is being transported by Mercy medics to UMMC for evaluation. The truck driver appears to be uninjured. He faces a citation for allegedly running a red light. 

jeff saquella

How long have i been saying it's just a matter of time with all this truck traffic in this town? Thank god this girl is alright. I see all the time these semi drivers trying to beat the lights

Feb 3, 2019, 8:08pm Permalink
Bob Price

I also see many other vehicles running red lights, not just trucks. Problem with this city is too many damn lights. Jeff, you ever drive a semi?? When a light changes yellow, it's a judgement call on drivers part on speed/weight/road conditions. People need to remember semis don't stop as quickly as a car or pickup. Let's not forget all the vehicles that follow the semi through a yellow/red light....

Feb 3, 2019, 10:50pm Permalink
Bob Price

We can't help that 63 is shorter and cheaper than the thruway to 390 route. I'll have to drive it in car someday when I'm bored and see time difference...

Feb 4, 2019, 3:57pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

I heard one time truckers save about $80 taking the shorter Route 63 route. I've never verified it.

That's a big economic incentive to overcome.

I guess there have been proposals in the past for truck-by-pass routes -- I think that would be great for Batavia -- but they died on the vine.

Some of the proposals to better link Ellicott with downtown, and make it more pedestrian and bike friendly, would slow down truck traffic but it wouldn't eliminate it. That alone won't bridge the gap of saving $80 on the trip.

Feb 4, 2019, 9:06pm Permalink
John Roach

Howard, truckers have been saying they save money by going through Batavia. The best solution would be for the Thruway to lower its tolls to get truckers to stay on it. But we all know that is not going to happen.

Feb 5, 2019, 5:53am Permalink
Ed Glow

The tolls are certainly the biggest part of it but it's also (approximately) 30 miles shorter. And there's this thing called Highway Use Tax (HUT) that requires commercial vehicles to pay a tax on every mile driven in each state, so the less miles racked up on a trip means less HUT paid. Cutting (approximately) 60 miles from each round trip certainly adds up and for the record, the difference in the amount of time it takes is very minimal.

Once upon a time every mile driven on a toll road in NY was deductible from your NYS HUT bill but the poor, underpaid gangsters in Albany figured truckers were taking far too much money out of their pockets so they changed that. Our beloved Prince Andrew doesn't get the credit for this wonderful idea though, this one goes to the first Godfather Cuomo in the "family".

Feb 5, 2019, 7:29am Permalink
Jim Urtel Jr

"Some of the proposals to better link Ellicott with downtown, and make it more pedestrian and bike friendly, would slow down truck traffic but it wouldn't eliminate it."

They completely screwed up Ellicott st when they made it a one-lane for a bike lane! It should have stayed for vehicles, not bikes. Same thing with route 5 coming into Batavia. Why would you get rid of a traffic lane especially with the amount of truck travel?

Feb 5, 2019, 7:58am Permalink

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