ONEIDA COUNTY, N.Y. (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) – The ‘Share the Road’ Farm Safety Initiative will post approximately 100 road signs to warn drivers of farm equipment travel in areas of high traffic and history of farm vehicle accidents.

With harvest season coming up, there will be more equipment on the road, especially due to the fact that there is 200 thousand acres of land here in Oneida County owned by farmers

“Not only do they feed us they take care of that land and they pay taxes on it so we need to continue to show the support especially its harvest season coming up there is going to be a lot of equipment on the roads and some of it is very big and a lot of these county roads are just two lane roads so we just want to make sure the public is patient,” said Marty Broccoli, Economic Development Specialist, Cornell Cooperative Extension.

The road signs were designed by the Oneida County Department of Planning, purchased by the CCE and Farm Bureau, and will be installed by the Oneida County Department of Public Works, costing about $3,000 to implement. Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol says it takes responsibility from not only the farmers but the motorists to prevent an accident.

“The farmers have an obligation to make sure that their equipment is properly marked that their equipment is properly maintained that they know the rules of the road the motorists have an obligation to make sure they are sharing the road properly with this equipment that is 100 percent authorized and allowed to be out on the road with us,” said Sheriff Maciol.

The initiative will start off with just 70 signs being installed beginning this month, with more expected to be posted in the future. Local municipalities can fill out an online application to request signs for their roadways through the county’s website at www.ocgov.net.