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New Walgreens Concerns Thornwood Bus Company

THORNWOOD, N.Y. – The new Walgreens on the corner of Kensico Road and Broadway is almost set for its grand opening, but not everyone in Mount Pleasant is pleased.

“The buses, we have a tough enough time pulling out of here now,” said Jo Ann Palmieri, a school bus monitor with Royal Coach Lines of Thornwood.  “And now it’s going to be even worse once there’s the traffic from the Walgreen’s coming out.”

Royal Coach Lines in Thornwood is a school bus dispatch area that has its headquarters adjacent to the new Walgreens on Broadway. The entrance and exit to its bus driveway is directly next to one of two entrance and exit driveways for the Walgreens. On the other side of the bus headquarters is the Thornwood Shopping Center. Workers with the bus company said the added traffic from Walgreens shoppers will cause a major issue for them as they leave to pick up and drop off students for school around 6:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.  

Town Supervisor Joan Maybury said traffic research was done by the town prior to construction and that the area will continue to be monitored.

“It was very heavily studied by the developer and the planning board,” Maybury said.  “We’re going to be watching very carefully to see if we have any problems and to see what we can do as we move forward.”

Barbara Duggan, a bus driver for Royal Coach Lines, said problems at the four way intersection are almost inevitable.

“The area is a disaster. Right now there’s almost some sort of accident out here every day,” said Duggan in reference to where Broadway meets Kensico.  “All anyone has to do is come down here on a Friday afternoon.”

Duggan said part of the problem is that once the buses leave the dispatch area going toward Walgreens and the traffic light at the corner with Kensico, they are unable to make a right-hand turn on red due to New York State law, which causes a backup of buses.

Maybury said the Walgreens is currently completing some minor construction outside of the building that is delaying the opening and it should be open for business within the next two weeks. 

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