Consider Arnold Finck, who regularly parks in the triangle to pick up his mail at the post office and, at 87, finds himself constantly dodging traffic. “I don’t know that the light did all that much good to begin with, but now there’s nothing,” he said. “A great many people park in the triangle and find it difficult to cross safely. Somehow they should cut down the speed of cars going from 9W to Oak Tree Road.”

Indeed, for residents up and down Oak Tree Road, that blinking light provided peace of mind, however scant, that speeders — whether Red and Tan buses, illegal trucks or oblivious locals — might apply their brakes. But it could be two more months before the illusion of safety is returned in the form of a new light, said Jim Dean, superintendent of the Orangetown Highway Department.

And according to both Mr. Dean and Officer Frank Buhler, head of the Orangetown Police Department’s traffic division, any long term solution to the flow and speed of vehicles on Oak Tree Road will be most effectively brought about by community involvement. “The problem is only going to get worse,” Officer Buhler said. “This area is completely saturated with homes. And some have four cars in the driveway.”

But back to that light for a moment. Lights on town roads are typically under the jurisdiction of the police department. Mr. Dean of the highway department was brought in a month ago, he said, because the light, which was strung between two wooden utility poles — one on Closter Road, the other alongside the green triangle — could not merely be re-hung. “We can’t repair it and we can’t replace it ‘as is’ because the poles are sagging too much,” he said.

In mid-November, Mr. Dean and a representative from Verde Electric, which holds the town’s signal maintenance contract, determined that a metal pole must be erected on the southeast corner of Closter Road, on the post office lot, in order to re-hang the light. “We’re waiting for a time line and a quote from the contractor,” Mr. Dean said. “The thing that may take the most time is finding out where the right of way is. Within a few weeks we should have a plan.”

Mr. Dean said he intends to reach out to the Historic Areas Board of Review to determine whether the pole meets the group’s standards. He also hopes to put together an informational meeting with the Palisades community about traffic-calming procedures in general. “Each year we have more and more issues with the volume of traffic and speed in the area,” he said. “We need to develop a town-wide program that looks at targeted enforcement and how you control speed.” Those controls currently include counters, which report the number and speed of vehicles using a road, and solar-powered monitors that shout out a car’s velocity in large orange lights. “They get people’s attention, but they cost about $20,000 and they’re bulky,” he said. The department is looking into smaller versions, like the ones on River Road in South Nyack, which are more adaptable to neighborhoods.

But the most effective approach, he suggested, would be to form a community group to bring its case before Orangetown’s Traffic Advisory Board. Residents of the Contempra condominium complex on Route 303 and Lexington Street in Tappan have found some solace to their traffic woes by appearing as groups at board meetings. “There’s strength in numbers,” Mr. Dean said.

As for seeing more traffic-enforcement officers on Oak Tree Road: not anytime soon. Despite the increasing discussion about traffic issues in Orangetown in recent months, one of the items subtracted from the police budget was money for additional officers to patrol the town’s roads.

“Clarkstown has four full-time traffic officers,” Officer Buhler said. “They write the tickets that need to be written. They have the means. Right now Orangetown has only one,” he added. “And that’s me.”