Streetsblog New York City

Fourth Avenue at 86th Street in Bay Ridge would get a pedestrian island - and a pedestrian fence - under a plan presented to CB 10 last week. Image: DOT

Last year, DOT redesigned Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park to calm traffic by widening pedestrian medians and reducing the number of motor vehicle lanes. Similar improvements are now on track for Fourth Avenue in Bay Ridge and Park Slope. Last Thursday, Community Board 6′s transportation committee voted 14-1 to support the Park Slope plan. In Bay Ridge, CB 10′s transportation committee reviewed the plan last Monday; it now goes to a community forum scheduled for June 5.

The biggest news is that, based on public feedback, the Bay Ridge road diet, originally planned for both directions from Ovington Avenue to 84th Street, will cover more blocks than expected [PDF]. Now, both directions from Ovington Avenue to 86th Street and northbound Fourth Avenue from 101st Street to 95th Street will be converted from two lanes in each direction to one through lane in each direction plus left-turn lanes.

CB 10 has historically been reluctant to support DOT’s street redesigns, but while infamous cars-first board member Allen Bortnick raged against DOT at last week’s meeting, he seemed to be in the minority this time around. “The plan was very well-crafted and thought out and DOT took the idea of community input to heart,” CB 10 member Andrew Gounardes said. ”They went block by block and they tweaked their plan based on input from us. I’m very encouraged by that.”

The intersection with 86th Street, a major bus and subway hub with lots of pedestrian activity and automobile drop-offs, will be receiving a new pedestrian island on the south side of the junction for pedestrians crossing Fourth Avenue.

The crossing would also receive an 80-foot pedestrian fence along the west side of Fourth Avenue. Hemming people in isn’t a pedestrian-friendly solution to traffic dangers, but DOT’s fence proposal was received positively by the committee. ”It’s the most troublesome intersection we have in Bay Ridge,” Gounardes said.

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City Council Member Jumaane Williams with (l-r) Transportation Alternatives general counsel Juan Martinez, Four-in-One Block Association president Hazel Martinez, and Small Business Men and Women of Avenue D president Terrence LaPierre. Photo: Keith Dawson/NYC Council

City Council Member Jumaane Williams yesterday called on the city to take action to improve traffic safety in East Flatbush, where hundreds of people have been injured and killed by reckless drivers in less than two years.

The area targeted by Williams centers on Kings Highway, and is bounded by Utica Avenue and Ralph Avenue to the west and east, respectively, Church Avenue to the north, and Glenwood Road to the south.

Williams was joined at a press conference by neighborhood leaders and Transportation Alternatives, which released a map of severe crashes within what Williams calls the “East Flatbush Motorist Danger Zone” [PDF]. Between August 2011 and February 2013, 69 pedestrians, 24 cyclists, and 385 motorists were injured in the target area. Two pedestrians and three motorists were killed.

Among the victims of reckless drivers in East Flatbush is Denim McLean, a toddler who was fatally struck by a curb-jumping motorist in March. Nine other bystanders, including Denim’s mother, were injured in that crash. The driver was not charged with a crime by NYPD or District Attorney Charles Hynes. Williams first announced his intent to pursue measures to tame traffic in his district in the aftermath of McLean’s death.

“My primary responsibility is the safety of my constituents, and the fact is that our streets are not meeting an acceptable standard of safety,” said Williams, in a press statement issued Wednesday. “There have been multiple fatalities and hundreds of injuries in the last couple years along Kings Highway, Utica Avenue and nearby thoroughfares. We need to double our efforts to reduce speeding and related violations that endanger motorists, pedestrians and cyclists.”

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A pedestrian struck by a motorist on April 1 in Bay Ridge died from her injuries. The crash occurred on a section of Fourth Avenue where DOT plans to install a pedestrian fence, and in a precinct where NYPD writes a speeding ticket once every five days.

At least two pedestrians were killed by drivers in April in the 68th Precinct, which wrote 63 speeding tickets in 2012. State Senator Marty Golden, whose district encompasses the precinct, is opposed to automated speed enforcement.

The victim, a 30-year-old female whose name was not published, was struck by the driver of a Honda sedan as she attempted to cross mid-block on Fourth near 86th Street, according to an April 2 story from the Brooklyn Daily. The impact broke one of her arms and caused severe head trauma.

The FDNY said they took the victim to Lutheran Medical Center where she later died from her injuries.

An NYPD spokeswoman said that the driver was uninjured and remained at the scene. An investigation is ongoing, but there is no evidence of a crime.

“It looks like it was just an accident,” the spokeswoman said.

A different version of the Brooklyn Daily story first appeared in the Brooklyn Paper, which reported that the victim was transported in cardiac arrest.

Coverage of the crash makes no mention of how fast the driver was going before the collision. A pedestrian’s chance of survival when hit by a vehicle decreases dramatically as motorist speed increases. Speeding was the leading cause of NYC traffic deaths in 2012, according to DOT.

DOT is planning a slate of changes to Fourth Avenue aimed at slowing down drivers and reducing traffic injuries and deaths. According to reports, one element of the proposal is a pedestrian fence, similar to those in Midtown Manhattan, to prevent “jaywalking.”

As usual, NYPD is AWOL on traffic calming. The 68th Precinct, where this crash occurred, and where an elderly woman was killed by a driver in a Fourth Avenue crosswalk on April 30, issued just 63 speeding tickets in 2012.

Both fatalities happened in Marty Golden’s state senate district. Golden has blocked the city from implementing a speed camera pilot program, though NYPD supports automated enforcement. Golden can be reached at 718-238-6044 and @SenMartyGolden.

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The end of May is an important time for livable streets in New York — and not just because of bike-share’s Memorial Day launch. On May 31, Slow Zone applications are due to DOT. Grassroots groups have been working to build support for their applications among neighbors, businesses, elected officials, and community boards — all with the goal of reducing dangerous speeding on local streets.

A Slow Zone installed last year in Corona. Neighborhoods across the city are preparing applications before the program's May 31 deadline. Photo: Stephen Miller

Speeding was the leading cause of traffic deaths in New York City last year, and the fatal crash rate increases four times faster than the corresponding increase in speed, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Under the DOT program, Slow Zones are in primarily residential areas bounded by major barriers or streets, and cannot contain fire stations, hospitals or truck routes. In addition to the 20 mph speed limit, a Slow Zone area receives speed humps and new striping and signage to slow drivers.

A similar 20 mph zone program in London has prevented 27 traffic injuries or deaths each year, and Slow Zones have been shown to exert a spillover effect on driver speeds in adjacent neighborhoods there, as well.

Although there is no complete tally of applications underway right now, the program has remained popular since it began two years ago. “We’ve had dozens of folks tell us they’re interested in applying,” Transportation Alternatives spokesperson Michael Murphy told Streetsblog via e-mail. Last year more than 100 applications were submitted, with only 13 selected for implementation. The city’s first Slow Zone was installed in the Claremont section of the Bronx in 2011.

DOT has not said how many Slow Zones it is aiming to green-light this year, but communities are lining up to be selected. On Tuesday evening, Brooklyn Community Board 1 voted to support a Slow Zone application from the Greenpoint Renaissance Enterprise Corporation for streets near Cooper Park. Another group is proposing a Slow Zone for the area around McGolrick Park.

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City Council Member Jumaane Williams has issued a statement calling for speed cameras and other traffic-calming measures following the death of Denim McLean, the 2-year-old killed by a curb-jumping driver in East Flatbush.

City Council Member Jumaane Williams

Williams also says more motorists should be held responsible for crashes that result in death.

This incident took place at the corner of Church and Utica Avenues, which has long been a problem area for accidents with pedestrians, even according to the Department of Transportation. I plan to meet with DOT officials in the coming days to discuss safety at this intersection and the Utica Avenue corridor in general. We must push for more traffic calming measures, measures that save lives and improve transportation in the long term. We need speed cameras at this cross-section and throughout this community, and it is my sincere hope that the State Senate will end their obstruction of this effort. While I do not know fully the details of this accident, I do believe that we must work together toward achieving greater accountability of drivers that cause fatal crashes. Finally, we must all exercise much greater caution on the roads. Getting to our destination safely must always be the priority.

There were six pedestrian fatalities in Williams’s district between 2009 and 2011, according to federal data mapped by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. All of the victims were children and seniors. The 67th Precinct, which encompasses much of the district, wrote 45 speeding tickets in 2012, an average of one every eight days.

Speed cameras have overwhelming support among city officials. A proposed demonstration program was included in the State Assembly budget proposal, but was blocked by Marty Golden and Simcha Felder in the Senate. Bronx Senator Jeff Klein has introduced a bill to bring speed cameras to NYC, but Golden says more 20 mph zones will be sufficient to reduce the number of crashes like the one that killed Denim McLean.

The streets around Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem are wide and fast, creating barriers between people who live in the neighborhood and important public amenities, including the park itself. Local residents have been working with DOT to calm traffic, coming up with a proposal that extends sidewalk space, shortens crossing distances for pedestrians, and squares off street corners that drivers currently careen around at high speeds.

A painted sidewalk extension proposed for Mount Morris Park West. Image: DOT

The area in and around Marcus Garvey Park is home to P.S. 79, a new location of the Harlem Village Academy charter school, a library, a senior center, a public pool, and a recreation center. But walking to all these destinations can be treacherous, especially for children and seniors. Many crosswalks are unmarked and span very wide streets with speeding traffic.

Community members have clamored for fixes for decades, said Syderia Chresfield, president of the Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association. ”In the past three years we’ve really been pushing it forward, and that’s because we’ve had so many accidents,” she said.

The most dangerous spot is Mount Morris Park West at 120th Street, where drivers turn left around the park, often at high speeds. A few months ago, Chresfield said, DOT reduced the number of lanes at the turn from two to one and installed a flexible post barrier, but it hasn’t been sufficient to tame traffic.

“We’ve actually had one accident since then,” she noted.

Under the full DOT plan [PDF], one motor vehicle lane will be converted to pedestrian space on Mount Morris Park West, painted sidewalk extensions will be added to several intersections around the park, and new crosswalks will be striped on 124th Street. Double turning lanes, which put pedestrians at heightened risk of being struck by turning drivers, will be converted to single turning lanes at three locations.

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With two unanimous 9-0 votes, Manhattan Community Board 2′s transportation committee took one step forward and one step back for livable streets last night, voting for safety fixes at a problematic intersection while punting on a proposal for bike corrals after local NIMBY extraordinaire Sean Sweeney showed up to squash it.

Just another day at the intersection of Carmine Street, Clarkson Street, Varick Street and Seventh Avenue South. Photo: Doug Gordon

A request for traffic calming and pedestrian safety fixes at the intersection of Clarkson Street, Carmine Street, Varick Street and Seventh Avenue South moved ahead after the committee agreed to drop further consideration of converting one block of Carmine Street to one-way operation. The intersection, which floods with traffic bound for the Holland Tunnel, would receive curb extensions on the northeast and northwest corners to reduce the crossing distance and daylighting treatments on the southwest corner through removal of on-street parking. The proposal was put forth by Brooklyn Spoke blogger Doug Gordon, who works nearby, and will move to the full board on January 24 before advancing to DOT and NYPD for agency consideration.

In a surprise move, the committee sent plans for three on-street bike corrals back to DOT for further study. Bike corrals were presented for three locations, each to be maintained by an adjacent business that had requested the bike parking: Spring Street Natural on the southwest corner of Spring and Lafayette Streets, Little Cupcake Bakeshop on the southeast corner of Prince and Mott Streets, and Organic Avenue at the corner of Sullivan and Houston Streets.

Sean Sweeney, winner of Streetsblog’s 2008 NIMBY of the Year award, pounced on these bike corral installations. “Why is SoHo DOT’s petri dish?” he asked. “Experiment somewhere else!”

Although DOT’s Inbar Kishoni pointed out that corrals are being installed in several other neighborhoods, and that the committee had already voted in support of a bike corral at Cafe Habana at Prince and Elizabeth Streets, Sweeney’s opposition scared away enough members from supporting the corrals. In the end, Committee Chair Shirley Secunda put forward a resolution asking DOT for more planning, education, and outreach before installing bike corrals.

So, thanks to Sweeney, instead of safer sightlines at intersections and on-street bike parking that would help relieve the spatial crunch on crowded sidewalks, SoHo and these local businesses will be getting nothing, at least for the time being. Chalk up another win for Sweeney’s SoHo Alliance.

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Last week, the New York Times profiled David Bookstaver, who after six years succeeded in getting DOT to install a stop light at East 85th Street and East End Avenue. Whether Mr. Bookstaver’s victory will result in a safer crossing remains to be seen, and stop lights, though popular with the public, are not the only tool the city can use to slow traffic.

Is that new stop light really the best way to make it safer to cross the street? Photo: New York Times

Bookstaver’s campaign began in 2006. Not wanting to “wait like we normally do in New York for a kid to get run over or an old lady to get crushed,” he began his quest for a stop sign at the only East End Avenue intersection without any stop signs or signals.

After what Bookstaver describes as a frustrating meeting with the Community Board 8 transportation committee in 2008, he learned that a stop sign would not be considered for the intersection. He shifted his focus to getting a stop light, but DOT determined that the intersection did not meet the necessary criteria. DOT offered to install yellow signage altering drivers to the crosswalk, but Bookstaver balked, according to the Times.

Bookstaver then worked with Council Member Jessica Lappin’s office to request another study. A traffic signal was finally installed in late August.

Streetsblog asked Bookstaver if he or DOT considered other traffic-calming measures, such as pedestrian refuge islands or curb extensions. “That never came up,” he said. “What came up was me asking for a stop sign, because I thought it was realistic. And I got something better.”

East End Avenue isn’t the only street to have traffic signals installed in the name of pedestrian safety. When Kent Avenue in Williamsburg was redesigned in 2009, DOT didn’t stripe crosswalks at intersections without traffic signals, which cut off the redeveloping waterfront from the rest of the neighborhood. The street received additional stop lights this year after residents complained that it was difficult to cross. Last February, Tribeca residents won a signal light at the intersection of Greenwich and Duane Streets after a child was struck by a cab driver. DOT had previously determined that the intersection was not busy enough for a light.

Noah Budnick of Transportation Alternatives, which was not involved in the campaign for a traffic signal on East End Avenue, welcomed Bookstaver’s neighborhood advocacy. “It goes to show that the demand for safe streets has penetrated deep into blocks and neighborhoods all around the city,” he said.

At the same time, there are a number of options in addition to traffic signals that are available to calm traffic. “It allows a much more tailored approach to unique neighborhoods around the city,” Budnick said. “New Yorkers would really benefit from learning about all of the different options that we have now.”

Following the launch of the city’s first 20 mph zone in the Claremont section of the Bronx last year, NYC DOT has selected 13 more areas to receive the “slow zone” treatment (see the full list), Mayor Michael Bloomberg and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan announced this afternoon. DOT was inundated with applications for slow zones after the agency announced the program in November, and Sadik-Khan said more neighborhoods would be able to opt in next year.

Behind Mayor Bloomberg are Council Member Julissa Ferraras, NYPD Transportation Chief James Tuller, DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Council Member James Vacca, and Assembly Member Francisco Moya. Photo: Ben Fried

In each slow zone, the speed limit is reduced to 20 mph and low-cost safety improvements like speed humps help regulate motorist behavior. “Slow zones send a strong message to drivers that these streets are not shortcuts,” said Sadik-Khan, noting that about 60 traffic deaths in the city each year are attributable to motorist speed. The safety benefits of capping vehicle speeds at 20 mph are tremendous, she said, with pedestrian survival rates at 95 percent in the event of a crash at that speed. Pedestrian survival rates at 30 mph are 60 percent, according to America Walks [PDF].

In London, where 20 mph zones are accompanied by more intensive physical traffic calming measures, researchers credit the program with preventing 27 deaths and serious injuries each year. Preliminary results in Claremont show that speeding is down at six out of seven locations with new speed humps, and maximum speeds are down about 10 percent, according to the mayor’s office.

The new batch of slow zones range in size from .08 square miles to .30 square miles. Today’s press event was held at the corner of 99th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Corona, where Queens Community Board 3 approved a slow zone of .26 square miles, or about 35 city blocks. Inside the zone, DOT will add 14 speed humps, and at 13 intersections the agency will add gateway treatments announcing the lower speed limit with bright blue signs.

With more than 100 slow zone applications pouring in to DOT, there’s still plenty of unmet demand for traffic-calming out there. As City Council Transportation Committee Chair James Vacca put it, ”There’s not a place I go in this city where people don’t want speed bumps.”

More slow zones will follow this first round of winners. DOT plans to re-open the application process again next year. It will be interesting to see if the selection criteria, which ruled out areas that include wide, highly-trafficked streets, change between this round and the next.

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Mayor Bloomberg and NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan today announced an expansion of the city’s Slow Zone program, which lowers speed limits in selected areas from 30 to 20 mph and implements low-cost traffic-calming measures like speed humps.

Photo: NYC Mayor's Office

Bloomberg and Sadik-Khan were joined in Corona by NYPD Chief of Transportation Bureau James Tuller, City Council transportation chair James Vacca and other electeds for this afternoon’s announcement.

Locations of the 13 planned zones are as follows:

• The Bronx: Mt. Eden, Baychester, Eastchester, Riverdale
• Brooklyn: Boerum Hill
• Manhattan: Inwood
• Queens: Corona, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights/East Elmhurst, Auburndale
• Staten Island: New Brighton/St. George, Dongan Hills, Rosebank

The city’s first slow zone was installed last November in the Claremont section of the Bronx. The city received more than 100 applications for slow zones from neighborhood groups.

We’ll have more on this story later today.