A good way to ruin driving in Bath
Letters to the Editor

Do you drive in the village of Bath?

Can you imagine an additional 880 cars per hour driving in our community?

Poorly located retail development such as the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter would cause constant traffic congestion and rush hour gridlock at our main intersections. Additional cars and semi-trucks coming off I-86 would travel right through our neighborhoods on both ends of town.

880 cars per hour at our three school crossings would compromise pedestrian safety and create congestion all along West Washington Street.

Emergency routes from Bath to the Ira Davenport Hospital would be slowed with chaotic traffic and dangerous left-hand turns along Rte. 54. Our paramedics are stationed at the Ira Davenport Hospital - not the ambulance garage. They would have to maneuver through all this traffic just to reach the patient, then turn around and go back through the congestion to get to the emergency room. This would slow response time significantly.

Do you pay taxes? We can expect to pay more because of increased need for repairs and maintenance on Bath streets.

When commercial development is unplanned and poorly located, it does not improve our community's quality of life.

Ellie Jones Bath