Schumer explains his position to firefighters, officials

WICCOPPEE - Like other fire departments in the Hudson Valley, the East Fishkill Fire District has been fighting for years to install emergency access ramps along I-84 to cut down on response times, but to no avail.  Now that they have solicited some federal firepower from the U.S. Senate, department officials are more optimistic.

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) Monday visited a substation of the Wiccoppee Fire Company, one within the East Fishkill Fire District, situated a mere 50 yards north of I-84 between Lime Kiln Road and the Taconic State Parkway, to survey the site.

After talking with fire department and local public officials, Schumer assured them he would intervene on their behalf to build an emergency ramp on that property.  The senator promised to talk with Federal Highway Administration officials regarding the matter.

He noted they are not the only ones in the Hudson Valley facing “the bureaucracy” of the federal government.

“Plain and simple, the firefighters need a better way to get to I-84.  It’s simple; we don’t have to hire an Albert Einstein consultant to figure this out.  All you need is direct access right here,” said Schumer, pointing toward the rear of the substation.  “Money is not the object.  This isn’t going to be very expensive.  It’s simply the federal bureaucracy.  Why haven’t they been able to do this?  And yet, it’s taken years to figure out.”

According to EFFD Chief Scott Post, response times for incidents along that corridor are currently around six minutes and could be cut in half with a ramp at the substation.

“Hopefully we can get this done.  It will save critical minutes off our response to incidents on 84, which is the whole idea behind getting this access to the highway,” he said.

Schumer is also calling for a simpler application process for emergency access requests along interstate highways, and for the FHWA to designate one new staff member to handle the requests in New York State.

Schumer noted that it took the Greenville Fire District over eight years to simply apply for an access ramp, all due to “confusion from federal agencies.”

Statistics show 353 calls have been made along that section of I-84 in the Town of East Fishkill since 2005. EFFD officials have been applying to the FHWA for the access ramp since 2004, with not even a response from the agency.

State Assemblyman Marcus Molinaro, State Senator Steven Saland, and Town of East Fishkill Supervisor John Hickman all lent their support for the cause, as well.

Chief Post added, “It’s been a long road, and we’ve been through a lot of phone calls, a lot of letter writing, and I’m glad to report that I think we’ve got some powerful guys here behind us that can hopefully get the job done for us.”