Dangerous intersection in Clarence

CLARENCE, N.Y. (WIVB) - Have the county and state done all they can to prevent crashes at a notorious intersection in Clarence?

The neighbors who live in the town are still waiting for Erie County to deliver on its plan to put up a stoplight at County and Strickler Roads.

They say it's desperately needed and after another accident on Sunday, we saw another reason why.

Crunched metal, broken glass and flashing emergency lights have become painfully familiar sights at the corner of County and Strickler Roads in Clarence. Late Sunday morning, neighbors witnessed it again.

According to the Erie County Sheriff's Office, this was a "routine accident" that caused only "minor injuries." But residents have long complained about this intersection's deadly history.

A Clarence resident Frank Nicotra says, "The last accident, which happened about eight months ago, me and my son actually had to pull somebody out of the car, because it was leaking gas and stuff like that. I mean, I don't know what we need or what it's going to take for somebody to recognize that this is something that needs to be done immediately."

We interviewed Nicotra the day of the last accident where back then, he and his neighbors were begging the Town of Clarence to install a traffic signal, or a roundabout.

"We've gone through the whole process; we tried to petition. But then we found out it's not a town road, it's a county road," says Nicotra.

Since then, the town has asked Erie County to lower the speed limit from 55, to 45.

In August, the county said it would put up a traffic light by the end of the year.

At first, Nicotra felt encouraged, but now he's losing patience. "And then to find out that there was a light put on the corner of Greiner and Shimerville. And that speed limit's only 35 miles an hour. So we went through the whole expense of having a light put there, when this one was priority number one," says Nicotra.