Treacherous Taconic

This highway is one of the most dangerous roads I have ever traveled on. It's a two lane, narrow highway and in many, if not most spots, has only a guardrail separating north and southbound lanes. It used to have east/west parkway crossovers, but due to the number of fatal accidents, closed them. There are exits into town, but other than that, it is miles of trees and blind curves. I hated driving on the Taconic at night, especially because of deer and because the bright lights of oncoming cars would almost disorient you. There is an abandoned gas station entering the parkway from Rte 684 and then I think there is no gas or civilization for miles.

One of the more idiotic moments in my life (I've had a few) was running out of gas on the Taconic coming home from Westchester in the afternoon. The "shoulder" was an embankment that tilted the car almost completely sideways. As if running out of gas was stupid enough, I decided to leave the car and walk along the "shoulder" to get to the then-open gas station. This was before the era of the cell phone. It was so incredibly dangerous.

I was saddened to read that yet another fatal accident has occurred and made national news.

Makes me certain that I'll be taking the long way and avoiding the Taconic whenever I go home.

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