The Dumbest Thing To Ever Happen in Binghamton

When I think of dumb things that we're allowed to be done in the city of Binghamton, the Court Street Circle is on the top of my list. I remember years ago, when I heard that the construction of the circle was about to begin I thought to myself, didn't we just spend millions in taxpayers’ dollars to build a flyover to avoid the circle in Johnson City?

In some areas, traffic circles help to keep traffic flowing. On Court Street, I don't think that's the case. There used to be a light at the corner of Court and Chenango Streets in Binghamton. That light was replaced by the traffic circle. I have actually gotten into arguments with friends who support the traffic circle over whether or not it was a good idea. All you have to do is sit in front of the courthouse for a couple of hours and you will see that this was not a good idea.

One reason it’s a bad idea is because the Superior Ambulance garage is on Exchange Street near the Security Mutual building. Whenever they have an emergency call that requires them to go down Court Street, they have to go around the circle. Which sometimes is not a problem, but other times it causes issues.

Whenever I'm standing on Court Street and I hear the sirens coming, I always look up towards the circle to see if the ambulance is coming around it. A lot of times they go to get in the circle and theres cars already in the circle and they're not sure where the ambulance is going. By the time they figure out that they have to get out of the way, the cars in front of them are also trying to move over to make room for the ambulance and sometimes it holds the emergency crew up.

If the traffic light was still there, the EMTs would be able to push a button inside the ambulance to change the light and that would prevent cars from going into the intersection. That would save time, and in turn, maybe save lives.

Tractor trailers also have a hard time getting through the circle, and the Broome County buses had to alter their route to the bus station because they could not make it around the circle to make a left hand turn onto Chenango Street.

When the circle was first built, it had big black metal posts protecting the inside part of the circle which made it nearly impossible for tractor trailers to get through. One by one, those post all started getting knocked down. I believe all of those posts have since either been knocked down or taken out of the circle.

It's fine if you don't agree with me, but in my opinion, that circle never should have been built in that intersection because the road is way too narrow.