SCHENECTADY — A Woodlawn resident who has consistently campaigned for increased traffic safety measures along Kings Road saw his property damaged by a wayward vehicle for the eighth time last weekend, as a skidding vehicle slid onto his family’s lawn and decimated the home’s fence.
Tracey Collins said he was sitting at home with his wife this past Saturday morning enjoying a cup of coffee when a vehicle slammed into the house’s roadside fencing.
“All of a sudden our house shook so badly that our kitchen cabinet doors opened up and our pictures on the wall were rattling,” he said. “There was a loud bang and I thought maybe a car hit the guardrail and I started running down to check to make sure no one was hurt and my wife looked out the bedroom window and said, ‘There’s a car in our yard.’ I said, ‘No way.’”
According to Schenectady police, the unidentified driver was traversing Kings Road amid snowy road conditions at approximately 10:30 a.m. last Saturday. The driver was going too fast for the weather and lost control of the vehicle and ended up on the lawn of 4225 Queen Philomena Blvd., according to Lt. Peter Montalto. The motorist was issued a traffic ticket for speed not reasonable and prudent. There were no injuries or arrests made as a result of the accident.
The collision decimated the property’s fence, leaving shards of the white fencing scattered on the Collins’ front yard. The fencing on the neighboring property was also destroyed during the incident.
Collins estimated that the property damage from Saturday’s collison will cost several thousand dollars.
Collins, who previously placed large boulders on his lawn to block vehicles from striking his home, said his property on the corner of Queen Philomena Boulevard has been damaged eight times since the home was built in 2006. The SUV involved in the most recent accident stopped short of colliding with the boulders on Collins’ property.
“We’re devastated this time,” Collins said of the latest crash. “I feel like, if the stones weren’t there, it could have been a lot worse.”
Collins said he was growing impatient waiting for the city to take action that could protect his home from speeding cars.
“Everybody keeps promising, promising, promising us to do stuff, but they’re not doing anything to resolve this issue,” he said.
Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy, who visited Collins’ property on Sunday to inspect the damage, said further measures may be taken to slow down traffic on Kings Road and beyond.
“We’re still looking at things we can do there and [that] then [can] also be applicable across the city to address speeding and vehicle safety,” the mayor said on Wednesday.
Collins and neighbor Kevin Brown have campaigned since last April for the city to implement speeding measures along Kings Road, with the pair frequently appearing at city council meetings to ask for traffic calming measures along the road.
The city studied the possibility of lowering the speed limit along Kings Road last year from 30 mph to 25 mph, with traffic engineer Fred Mastroianni recommending that the city not lower the speed limit along the road.
Collins has frequently pressed the city to install additional stop signs along Kings Road.
Last fall, the city installed crosswalks across Kings Road and Philomena Boulevard and a metal guardrail outside Collins’ property.
Collins said on Tuesday that he has grown exasperated with the property damage his home has experienced due to speeding drivers.
“I’ve been fighting this for over a year and been asking them for stop signs,” he said. “That’s what has to be put on this road to slow this issue down. They should have done that over a year ago.”
The SUV, which was traveling towards Albany Street on Saturday morning when it skidded off the road, was wedged under a telephone wire. The fire department and National Grid workers were dispatched to the scene to safely remove the vehicle.
“The accident that happened at his place is one of those fluke events,” McCarthy said. “The vehicle went through a narrow space that even if you were trying to go through it, would almost be impossible. Thank goodness that no one was seriously injured.”
City Council President Marion Porterfield said the council would rely on the guidance of City Engineer Chris Wallin for potential further safety measures along the roadway.
“The city has taken corrective measures by putting up the guardrail and by putting in a crosswalk,” Porterfield said on Tuesday.