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New Signs On Taconic Parkway Designed To Improve Safety

The Taconic State Parkway is getting new exit signs with improved visibility as well as new exit numbers that correspond to mile markers, state officials said.

The existing, unnumbered exit sign and the new sign covered in a blue tarp at the Pleasantville Road exit on the Taconic State Parkway. The new signs will have numbers that correspond with the state route's mile mark.

The existing, unnumbered exit sign and the new sign covered in a blue tarp at the Pleasantville Road exit on the Taconic State Parkway. The new signs will have numbers that correspond with the state route's mile mark.

Photo Credit: Jon Craig
The state Department of Transportation plans to replace most exit signs in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties. This exit at Peekskill Hollow Road will be Exit 25, because it's 25 miles north of where the Taconic Parkway begins in Valhalla.

The state Department of Transportation plans to replace most exit signs in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties. This exit at Peekskill Hollow Road will be Exit 25, because it's 25 miles north of where the Taconic Parkway begins in Valhalla.

Photo Credit: Jon Craig
Unless you are looking for them, many of the new tarped exit signs along the Taconic State Parkway are easily missed. This one is next to the exit ramp at Pleasantville Road in Mount Pleasant.

Unless you are looking for them, many of the new tarped exit signs along the Taconic State Parkway are easily missed. This one is next to the exit ramp at Pleasantville Road in Mount Pleasant.

Photo Credit: Jon Craig

Gina DiSarro, regional spokeswoman with state Department of Transportation, said the new signs -- now being installed in Westchester -- and eventually in Putnam and Dutchess counties -- are designed to be highly visible in daylight as well as at night.

The Westchester County stretch of the 104-mile-long Taconic Parkway is expected to have new signs with numbers by next summer. New exit signs will be installed along the state parkway in Putnam and Dutchess counties after Westchester's phase of the project is complete.

However, DiSarro said exit signs will not be replaced at numerous "at-grade" crossings such as Pudding Street in Putnam Valley or various railroad crossings in Mount Pleasant. Those signs may be replaced as part of future, major changes to such intersections. 

"If at-grade intersections with the Taconic are developed into interchanges, they will receive exit numbers," DiSarro said.

Taconic Parkway exits between Pleasantville Road in Mount Pleasant to Westchester's border with Putnam County near Yorktown Heights have new signs installed, but they remain covered with blue tarps until the initial phase of the project is complete.

DiSarro said the new signs are part of the state's effort to improve road safety and bring signage "into conformance with national and state standards, which include the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices."

New signs installed in northern Westchester include exit signs posted right behind the outdated exit signs (and covered by blue tarps) as well as destination signs with their exit numbers temporarily covered by paper.

The new exit numbers will match mile markers. For example, the exit for Route 6 at Jefferson Valley will be Exit 20, because it is 20 miles north of where the Taconic Parkway begins in Valhalla. Peekskill Hollow Road in Putnam County will be Exit 25, because it it 25 miles north of Valhalla. And the Taconic's interchange with Interstate 84 in Dutchess County will be Exit 37.

Future sign upgrades along the Taconic include adding new "Wrong Way," "One Way" and "Do Not Enter" signs at ramps. Other new signs will warn truck drivers that the Taconic Parkway is for "Passenger Cars Only," and warn all motorists about height restrictions at bridges and other overpasses.

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