Shandaken voted to seek safety help from the Department of Transportation after a three-car accident injured four people this month near the intersection of Route 212 and Route 28, the site of a crash that killed two Kingston High School students in January 2024.
Two people were airlifted to Albany Medical Center for treatment and both roads were closed for seven hours after the Oct. 4 accident. A truck driver involved in the crash was later charged with reckless endangerment and reckless driving. Students Jack Noble, 17, and Dillon Gokey, 16, were killed in the 2024 accident, while a third, Joseph Sepesi, 17, survived with serious injuries.
“We’ve had two horrible crashes in two years, and seemingly everyone in town has a story of unsafe driving or conditions on Route 28,” Deputy Supervisor Robert Drake wrote in an email. “We look forward to working with the DOT as soon and as closely as possible to make our scenic byway safer.”
The town can’t implement safety measures without state approval because Route 28 and Route 212 are state roads.
“A lowered speed limit, turning lanes, or other traffic calming measures must all be considered,” the Shandaken board wrote in its resolution. “Route 28 is heavily traveled by locals, tourists, and commercial vehicles. Please re-evaluate this road as if you lived here yourself.”
The state completed a $23.6 million project in 2021 to replace the Route 28 bridge over the Esopus Creek near the Route 212 intersection. The project also moved the intersection about 250 feet to the west and raised portions of Route 212. Those changes have come under scrutiny as possibly creating dangerous conditions that led to the two accidents.
Sepesi’s mother, Christine Sepesi, filed a notice of intention claim in April 2024 that accused the DOT of negligence by allowing “unsafe conditions” along the stretch of Route 28. She said the agency was negligent by designing an intersection “without appropriate sight distance and signage.”
Joseph O’Connor, a Kingston attorney representing Sepesi, said a separate civil case against the driver charged with causing the crash had been settled. While Sepesi probably won’t pursue her claim against the DOT because it would be too costly, conditions along that part of Route 28 still need to be addressed.
“There have been five or more crashes in 36 months since the bridge was put in place,” O’Connor said. “There were a lot of safer options.”
Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger pressed the DOT in February of 2024 to conduct a safety assessment of the area. A DOT spokesperson said the agency did so.
“Following a review of traffic conditions at the intersection of State Route 28 and State Route 212, the New York State Department of Transportation earlier this year implemented safety enhancements, including the installation of a flashing traffic signal,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “As the recent incident along State Route 28 in Shandaken is the subject of a police investigation, we cannot comment further at this time.”
A spokesperson for Metzger said she’ll contact the DOT about the most recent crash.
Much of the problem is that Route 28 was designed in the 1950s and 1960s as “a faster motorway through the Catskills,” said Shandaken Supervisor Peter DiSclafani. These days, increased traffic as well as distractions such as cell phones have changed how the road is used—and, more importantly, how the DOT manages it.
“A lot of businesses have popped up on Route 28 and there is a lot of action on that part of the highway,” DiSclafani said. “I’m not sure the new intersection they created was the best designed.”
The board hasn’t yet received a response to its request for help.
“The DOT has the expertise to figure this out, but I don’t think they’ve figured it out yet,” DiSclafani said. “I hope in the near future the DOT will get its act together.”
Jim Rich is a senior reporter for The Overlook. You can reach him at jim@theoverlooknews.com.