Horrific sawmill accident angers Pleasantville residents

A prominent Pleasantville resident and business owner was recently seriously injured at the dangerous Saw Mill River Parkway-Grant Street intersection, prompting angry residents to once again demand safety improvements at the site.

Freya Martens, co-owner of Soul Brewery Company, was driving westbound on Grant Street around 11:25 p.m. on June 20 and as she crossed the sawmill, her car was struck by another vehicle traveling southbound on the parkway, according to the Westchester County Department of Public Safety. One of the cars apparently ran a red light, police said.

Both drivers were taken by ambulance to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. Martens suffered multiple lacerations, a fractured vertebra and a broken pelvis. She was admitted to intensive care, where she spent several days and remained in the hospital until last week. The other driver suffered minor injuries.

Martens’ serious injuries shocked friends and community members, many of whom expressed their anger at last week’s Pleasantville Village Board meeting. For well over an hour, the board listened to emotional testimony sparked by frustration over the longstanding inability to improve safety at the intersection.

Some urged the committee to ask the state Department of Transportation, which oversees the parkway, to close the intersection to pedestrians and east-west vehicle traffic.

“Freya Martens is my closest friend in the world,” said Samantha Hoover, former chair of Pleasantville’s pedestrian safety committee. “Aside from my personal relationship, what happened is simply unacceptable.”

Hoover said she obtained police records on the number of accidents at the Grant Street intersection. She said there have been 70 accidents in the last 10 years, including 27 since 2019.

“Something has to happen, and I am all for the closure,” Hoover said.

Many of the accidents at the intersection were caused by speeding cars running red lights.

According to Westchester County Police, the cause of the June 20 accident appears to be that “one of the vehicles involved ran a red light” and that “the accident is currently under investigation.”

The board reported on its year-long efforts to contact the Ministry of Transport and make numerous suggestions for improving the intersection, which were repeatedly rejected.

“We have had extensive discussions with the Department of Transportation,” said Pleasantville Mayor Peter Scherer. “We have requested a number of measures, including a red light camera and a flashing light, and we received a letter from the Department of Transportation saying that virtually none of these measures were an option.”

The community has asked its state representatives, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins ​​(Democrat, Yonkers) and Assemblywoman MaryJane Shimsky (Democrat, Dobbs Ferry), to contact the Department of Transportation on behalf of the community.

“The Department of Transportation is presumably responding to the direction of elected officials,” Scherer said. “We received some feedback today and they are aware of this accident and the accident history and we are clearly on their radar screen. What that means is unclear.”

Shimsky told The Examiner last week that she and other stakeholders had been pushing for a meeting with the transportation authority over the past year to improve safety on the parkway at the intersection, but she and other officials were given conflicting reports about what would happen next.

The MP expressed optimism that accident statistics, including the recent serious accident and public protests, would force the Ministry of Transport to act.

“At this point, of course, they have to come to a consensus, they have to sit down with us,” Shimsky said. “I directed my staff earlier this week to call a meeting with the Department of Transportation and the Town of Pleasantville because I think you get a certain amount of information by talking to each other, but this is different. It requires all of the stakeholders to come together in one place, and that’s what I plan to do.”

Trustee Yemi Healy, who lives in the densely populated neighborhood west of the sawmill and whose children were passengers in a car crash at the Grant Street intersection more than a year ago, said petitions have been effective in getting the attention of the Department of Transportation.

“Many of these issues, particularly child safety and the ongoing crashes, are what can move the state forward,” Healy said. “That’s my hope, along with weekly communication with the Department of Transportation.”

Local resident Linda Nappi said it’s hard to believe the state hasn’t put up appropriate signage, especially given the number of accidents at the location.

“There are signs all over Westchester County saying things like ‘Stop at a Stop’ or ‘Slow Down.’ Flashing lights aren’t enough.”

Healy said a recent letter to the Department of Transportation called for more signage for the parkway.

“We also asked for writing on the road, for signs to be placed at the side of the road and for flashing lights to be installed,” she said. “The main message we received was that this is not a pedestrian crossing, it is a roadway. The Department of Transport’s view is traffic flow and they want a smooth and clear flow.”

In response to the Examiner’s request for comment, DOT spokeswoman Heather Pillsworth responded by email: “Safety is always the top priority for the New York State Department of Transportation and we are in contact with our local partners to discuss concerns and areas for potential improvements along the Saw Mill River Parkway at Grant Street. Because the incident at this intersection is the subject of a police investigation, we are unable to provide any further comment at this time.”

At the June 24 council meeting, residents were asked if they supported closing the pedestrian and car crossing on Grant Street. Many raised their hands.

Board members indicated they would consider a public forum that would include Stewart-Cousins ​​and Shimsky. Scherer said he wanted to hear from both representatives about the possible options proposed by the Department of Transportation before scheduling a town hall meeting.

Tim Mattison, who lives in the neighborhood west of the parkway, has been posting videos of accidents at the intersection over the past year. Mattison’s footage shows that in some of them, cars continue to go through a light for seven to eight seconds after it turns red.

“We should close it. If we do that, it would guarantee that there will be no more accidents and that the speed on Pleasant Avenue will go down and no one will be in a hurry to get anywhere,” Mattison said after the meeting.

Mattison said it would take people in the neighborhood who walk to the train seven minutes longer. There is an overpass over Saw Mill Parkway at Pleasantville Road, just south of the intersection with Grant Street.

“The impact is minimal,” he said. “We should do something. We should close Grant Street and see what the state does.”

Martin Wilbur contributed to this article.