The Westchester County Executive has asked the NYC DEP to consider reopening Kensico Dam Road to vehicles. The road has been closed to vehicles since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer spoke on the topic at a press conference, saying, according to Michael P. McKinney and Mark Lungariello of the Rockland/Westchester Journal News, “We think after 18 years, it is perfectly reasonable to ask for reassessment, and we’re prepared to do the work to make the proposal back to [the DEP] for their consideration.”
There are concerns that local emergency response times could be lower if the road was open. Rush-hour traffic on other roads could be helped by reopening Kensico Dam Road.
DEP Commisioner Vincent Sapienz wrote a letter refusing the proposal, stating, “While we understand and support the goal of improving traffic on local roadways, New York City will not consider any proposal to allow vehicles on Kensico Dam. Our decision to close roadways at four of our water supply dams, including Kensico, came after an intensive security review and risk assessment that followed the terrorist attacks of 9/11.”
