Diane Valden reports in the Columbia Paper that she's been reporting on battles between the state Department of Transportation and Ancram officials about the intersection of County Route 7 and State Route 82 for 35 years. On July 30 this year the town received a four-page memo from the DOT that chronicled numerous requests and suggestions made by townspeople for ways to improve the intersection and the reasons why the DOT is not willing to allow any of the proposals. The DOT says, “a review of the most currently available three-year crash history was conducted (January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2020) at the Route 82 and CR 7 intersection. A pattern of crashes was not found at this intersection.” Because of the lack of crashes, the DOT does not want to make any changes. Jay Corcoran, chair of the Ancram Hamlet Planning Group, that has been leading the charge for intersection reform said, “Our main concern in getting the DOT to take substantial action to amend the disastrous route 82/7 intersection is that, in spite of the horrible situation, the town center has never been so vibrant. If the traffic continues to accelerate in volume and speed, and nothing is done about it, we can lose our residents that have contributed so much into making Ancram the creative hub it is becoming." Meanwhile, Ancram officials are now waiting for approval from the DOT to install radar speed signs on Route 82 approaching Ancram and Ancramdale. Art Bassin, Ancram Supervisor said of the wait, “They just say they are going through their regular process.” Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.