Streetsblog New York City

In the wake of Tenzin Drudak's death, DOT is proposing to close this turn lane and restrict left turns at Skillman and Thomson Avenues. Photo: DOT

On March 11, Tenzin Drudak, 16, was on the sidewalk on Thomson Avenue across from Applied Communications High School, where he went to school, when the driver of a maroon Dodge Caravan careened across three lanes of oncoming traffic, between metal barriers, onto the sidewalk, injuring four and killing Drudak.

The driver, Mohamed Keita, 36, was reportedly distracted by spilt milk as he was speeding through the intersection. Police issued Keita a summons for driving without insurance, but did not file charges.

In the wake of Drudak’s death, Queens Community Board 2, LaGuardia Community College, and Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer called on DOT to make changes to the intersection, which sees lots of foot traffic from nearby schools as well as heavy vehicle congestion caused by drivers using surface streets to and from the toll-free Queensboro Bridge.

In April, DOT adjusted signage and traffic signals at the intersection, adding countdown signals for pedestrians on Thomson Avenue at 30th Street, 30th Place, 31st Street, and 31st Place.

Last month, the agency presented a safety plan [PDF] to CB 2′s transportation committee that would prohibit right turns from westbound Thomson Avenue to Skillman Avenue, with the short right-turn ramp blocked by flexible posts or granite blocks. DOT also proposed installing planters in the former turn lane, to be maintained by LaGuardia Community College. The plan would also prohibit left turns from eastbound Thomson Avenue to Skillman Avenue.

Read more…

Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer and his constituents rallied on the steps of City Hall today, calling on DOT to expand bike-share to western Queens. Photo: Stephen Miller

At a rally this afternoon on the steps of City Hall, Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer called for the city’s bike-share program to be expanded to western Queens as quickly as possible.

This isn’t the first time Van Bramer – already a Citi Bike member – has pushed for bike-share. When the program was announced, he pressed the city to expand it to include Queens, and 11 stations in Long Island City were added to the bike-share map. DOT has said that those stations will be installed by the end of this year, though Van Bramer said he’s heard they could be installed as early as September. “Both of those are unacceptable,” he said, saying that his district could use the bikes now. “We’re not just waiting for it, we’re pushing for it.”

Funding for those initial stations has reportedly been secured, but not for an expansion to 10,000 bikes and beyond. When Streetsblog asked Van Bramer if he would be interested in using his discretionary funds for bike-share in his district, he deferred to DOT. “At this point, fundraising for the program has been the task of Janette Sadik-Khan,” he said. “She has my cell.”

While Citi Bike is still working to resolve technical problems, including station outages, Van Bramer remains focused on expansion. “We understand that with any program this size, there are going to be kinks at the beginning of it and those need to be worked out,” he said.

A roster of community leaders spoke after Van Bramer at today’s rally, including Helen Ho of Recycle-A-Bicycle, which works with more than 1,000 youth on bicycle maintenance, repair, and education. “We’d love for the families of our students to join them,” she said, adding that Citi Bike has hired two of the program’s students to help operate bike-share.

“Queens residents aren’t alone,” said Caroline Samponaro of Transportation Alternatives, adding that TA has heard from residents in Ditmas Park, East Harlem, the Bronx, and Staten Island who want bike-share in their neighborhoods. Yesterday, AM New York spoke with Council Member Stephen Levin and the district managers of Brooklyn Community Board 7, which covers Sunset Park and Windsor Terrace, and Staten Island CB 1 — all of whom said residents are constantly asking for bike-share to be expanded.

A protected bike lane on the Pulaski Bridge — calming traffic heading to McGuinness Boulevard and providing much more breathing room than the bridge’s narrow bike/ped path alone — has cleared a significant planning hurdle. In a letter to Assembly Member Joe Lentol [PDF], DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said that the proposal meets traffic analysis requirements, and that an engineering study and recommendations will be made by the end of the year:

DOT says an engineering study is underway for a protected bike lane on the Pulaski Bridge, and the agency will make recommendations by the end of the year. Photo: *Bitch Cakes*/Flickr

Since December, we have analyzed traffic data and we are confident that one Brooklyn-bound lane can be removed from the Pulaski Bridge without an adverse effect on traffic flow… However, there are some engineering questions remaining about how to properly design and install such a bicycle path on the bridge. To resolve these questions, we are initiating an engineering study with a structural engineering consultant.

The most likely engineering concerns are related to the bridge’s wide joint gaps, which could ensnare narrow bike tires, and how to maintain an adequate physical barrier between bicycles and motor vehicles on the drawbridge section of the span. DOT expects to wrap up the study and recommendations later this year, according to Sadik-Khan’s letter.

While this update puts the study schedule behind the March deadline that Lentol had cited at the beginning of the year, it’s a good sign of progress.

In the meantime, advocates continue to build support for the bike lane. The Transportation Alternatives Queens volunteer committee, which has a petition supporting the lane with 300 signatures, will be gathering more signatures on the Queens side of the bridge path on Saturday, May 11, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.

The bridge path would complement a separate proposal to bring bike lanes to 11th Street in Long Island City, connecting north to Queens Plaza and the Queensboro Bridge. ”DOT and CB 2 have already agreed to this,” TA volunteer Steve Scofield told Streetsblog via e-mail. “We’re expecting their exact proposal and an implementation date in a matter of weeks.”

Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer holds a petition signed by over 500 LaGuardia Community Colllege students in July asking DOT to improve pedestrian safety along Thomson Avenue. Photo: Stephen Miller

This morning, with constant horn honking and engine noise in the background, Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer called on DOT to study and implement traffic calming improvements along Thomson Avenue in the wake of the death of 16 year-old Tenzin Drudak, who was standing on the sidewalk when a driver jumped the curb and plowed into a group of pedestrians on Monday.

Van Bramer was joined by students from LaGuardia Community College, area high school students, Community Board 2 Chair Joseph Conley, and Transportation Alternatives.

“We cannot risk our lives to come into school any more. Please do something,” said LaGuardia Community College student government president Shah Amanat.

Last July, nearly 500 LaGuardia students signed a petition asking DOT for more signal time to get across the street. In November, DOT replied, saying that the signals were functioning properly and that it would not adjust them.

“We should never, ever, ever in this city sacrifice lives or put lives at risk in order to move cars faster. That is wrong,” added Van Bramer, who called on DOT to immediately study Thomson Avenue from Van Dam Street to Skillman Avenue for traffic calming, signal retiming, and additional bollards.

In the last few years, DOT has added safety improvements to other bridge approaches, including Delancey Street near the Williamsburg Bridge, on the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge, and nearby, at Queensboro Plaza and along Queens Boulevard – but not on Thomson.

DOT said it is in the process of evaluating curb extensions at the intersection where Drudak was killed. ”The agency was already working with LaGuardia Community College to improve pedestrian safety and access at this location as part of the college’s planned expansion,” said spokesperson Scott Gastel. Streetsblog asked DOT if the agency has a timeline for implementing traffic calming measures but has not received a reply.

Read more…

A Brooklyn woman who was struck by a truck driver in Red Hook Wednesday was the latest victim among six city pedestrian and cyclist fatalities in the last week.

Lillian Cruz, hit by the driver of a tractor-trailer in Red Hook Wednesday, was at least the fifth pedestrian killed by a city motorist since Ray Kelly announced changes to the NYPD crash investigation squad. Image: News12 via Gothamist

At approximately 6:40 a.m. yesterday, Lillian Cruz, 60, was crossing Hamilton Avenue at Court Street when the signal changed and the driver of a tractor-trailer, westbound on Hamilton and stopped at the light, accelerated and ran her over, according to NYPD.

Cruz, of Bushwick, died at the scene. The driver was summonsed for failure to exercise due care.

Cruz was at least the second pedestrian killed by a semi truck driver in the last two weeks, following the February 28 death of 6-year-old Amar Diarrassouba. Tractor-trailer drivers have killed at least three other pedestrians on city streets since last August, according to crash data compiled by Streetsblog. The victims include Ignacio Cubano, Ken Baker, and Jessica Dworkin.

Many of the trucks involved in these fatal collisions are too long to be operated on surface streets without a permit. Despite recent deaths, the presence of trucks in areas that should normally be off-limits has not been a focus of NYPD or the media.

Monday evening at around 8 p.m., 75-year-old Roberto Baez was struck by the driver of a Nissan in the Bronx. Baez was crossing Soundview Avenue mid-block near Taylor Avenue when he was killed, a police spokesperson said. No summonses were issued.

Monday morning, 16-year-old Tenzin Drudak was among several people hit by a curb-jumping motorist near LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City. Drudak was killed and four others were injured. NYPD told the media the driver was speeding and reaching for a carton of milk when the crash occurred. Nevertheless, no charges were filed.

Read more…

A driver jumped the curb in Long Island City today, plowing into a group of pedestrians who were waiting for a crossing signal. Tenzin Drudak, 16, died, and four others were injured. Photo: Niko J. Kallianiotis/NYT

At approximately 10:30 this morning, a minivan driver that witnesses say was speeding eastbound on Thomson Avenue in Long Island City crossed oncoming traffic, jumped the curb, and struck a group of students on the sidewalk at the corner with 30th Street, near Skillman Avenue. The crash killed Tenzin Drudak, 16, and left four others injured.

Drudak was a student at Applied Communications High School on Thomson Avenue. The four injured pedestrians, all students at adjacent LaGuardia Community College, were transported to Elmhurst Hospital Center in stable condition.

The driver exited the vehicle after the crash, screaming, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” according to witnesses. WCBS reports that the driver was taken from the scene in handcuffs. Streetsblog has an inquiry in with NYPD to see if charges are being filed.

This sidewalk is often crowded with students waiting to cross Thomson Avenue after getting off the Q39 bus, and the street also sees heavy traffic from drivers on their way to and from the free Queensboro Bridge.

Read more…

Photo: Clarence Eckerson, Jr.

Quick update on the campaign for a protected two-way bikeway on the Pulaski Bridge: We don’t know if DOT is going to implement one yet, but we know when they’ll make a decision. Yesterday, Assembly Member Joe Lentol sent out word that DOT chief Janette Sadik-Khan told him the agency will wrap up its feasibility study of the bikeway by March:

Although the response from Commissioner Sadik-Khan did not provide a definitive answer to the likelihood of the dedicated bike lanes installation, it did explain that the Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs unit is investigating the matter. The investigation will examine various factors, including the traffic conditions on the roadway, the structure of the movable bridge and the connections on the Brooklyn and Queens sides of the bridge. The investigation is slated to be completed by March 2013.

Lentol asked DOT to study the bikeway in October, after hosting a public meeting about the increasingly crowded conditions on the bridge’s narrow bike-ped path. DOT announced their feasibility study the next month, saying the main engineering challenge would be designing physical protection for cyclists that works on the drawbridge section of the roadway.

As Lentol noted in his statement yesterday, converting a southbound traffic lane on the bridge to a protected bikeway would also help control drivers’ speeds as they head off the bridge onto McGuinness Boulevard, which has a terrible safety record:

“I have long advocated for traffic calming measures on McGuinness Boulevard and this proposed bike lane would undoubtedly slow drivers down, while making the Pulaski Bridge safer for pedestrians and cyclists who travel along this road everyday. This bike lane is a common sense solution to a multi-faceted problem and I hope Commissioner Sadik-Khan’s investigation will result in the correct decision to make this bike lane a reality.”

The NYC Department of Transportation is undertaking a feasibility study for constructing a protected bike lane on the Pulaski Bridge connecting Greenpoint and Long Island City, agency representatives said at a neighborhood transportation town hall on Monday night.

The study, coming after Assembly Member Joe Lentol met with constituents about the issue in October and wrote to DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan asking for a change, will likely take several months.

DOT is studying a protected Pulaski Bridge bike lane and how to overcome the challenges posed by the span's drawbridge section. Photo: *Bitch Cakes*/Flickr

The study is necessary, DOT staff said, because the agency has to figure out how to separate the bike lane from motor vehicle traffic on the drawbridge section of the crossing, which presents challenges that other bridges do not.

Because the center span of the bridge is opened for nautical traffic on Newtown Creek, any physical separations installed on the bridge would have to be lightweight yet stable when the drawbridge is opened.

Another issue raised at Monday’s meeting is the need to replace the wide expansion joints on the roadbed with a smaller joint that poses less risk to bicyclists. The existing shared path already has smaller, bike-friendly joints. The bike lane connect to the growing network of bike lanes in Long Island City and Sunnyside.

DOT staff acknowledged that the roadway had excess capacity for the number of vehicles that use it and said that reducing the number of southbound motor vehicle lanes on the bridge from three to two could help reduce speeding on McGuinness Boulevard, which is two lanes in each direction.

DOT staff also presented data showing that non-fatal injuries on McGuinness Boulevard are declining, dropping from 51 in 2006 to 11 in 2010. However, traffic fatalities on the roadway have remained steady. DOT representatives said that the agency would look into dedicated left-turn signals on McGuinness Boulevard, which already has dedicated turn lanes, as a way to reduce the number of crashes.

That wraps up our coverage today, Streetsblog readers. Enjoy the holiday and we’ll see you back here on Monday.

DOT crews brought snowblowers to the Manhattan Bridge bike path this morning. Photo: Ignatzybanjo/Flickr

It looks like major bike routes are getting cleared after the season’s first snow. This stands in stark contrast to the conditions four years ago, when it took days for bridge and greenway paths to be cleared of snow and ice. What did you see on your way to work this morning?

Workers clear snow from the Queens Plaza bikeway approach to the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. Photo: Valcristdk/Instagram

Brooklyn and Queens residents walk over the shared path on the Pulaski Bridge yesterday at 3:30 p.m. With the G train out of service for over a week, North Brooklynites relied on the crowded path to access the 7 train. During rush hours, the crowding was worse. Photo: Clarence Eckerson Jr.

Over the past week, the long G train outage caused by flooding from Hurricane Sandy brought the need for changes to the Pulaski Bridge into starker relief. Streetsblog received multiple reports of extreme crowding on the bridge’s narrow bike and pedestrian path, which could have been relieved with a protected bikeway across the bridge.

Crowded conditions on the Pulaski Bridge’s shared path have long been an issue, and recently Assembly Member Joseph Lentol announced his support for adding a protected bikeway across the bridge to provide more space for cyclists and pedestrians.

200 bikes locked up within one block of the Vernon Boulevard - Jackson Avenue subway station in Long Island City. Photo: Clarence Eckerson Jr.

A temporary bikeway would have been especially useful in Sandy’s wake, when the city and the MTA set up temporary bus routes across the Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge, but failed to provide substitute bus service for straphangers who rely on the G train.

Without the train or a backup in place, North Brooklyn residents had to find different ways to get around, and many chose to bike or walk over the Pulaski Bridge to catch the 7 train to Manhattan. Conditions on the bridge path were crowded, especially during rush hours but during off-peak times as well.

Evidence of the spike in bike-to-7-train commuting was abundant at Long Island City’s bike racks. Clarence Eckerson of Streetfilms counted 200 bikes locked up within a block of the Vernon Boulevard – Jackson Avenue station yesterday afternoon — many more than usual.

The G train resumed limited service this morning, but crowding on the path is likely to remain. A protected bike lane on the bridge was needed before Hurricane Sandy, during the G train suspension, and will be needed after the subway system returns to normal.

UPDATE: Assembly Member Joseph Lentol told Streetsblog that the G train disruption showed why a Pulaski Bridge bike lane is necessary. His office has only gotten positive feedback on the proposal since it was floated in October. “I expected to get outraged motorists complaining about taking a lane on the bridge, but I haven’t gotten that at all,” Lentol said, adding that he will soon follow up on his October letter to Commissioner Sadik-Khan with a phone call. “You always have the bureaucratic naysaysers who say why you can’t do it,” Lentol said. “I know they have the expertise to come up with a solution.” Lentol added that he plans to reach out to Assembly Member Catherine Nolan, who represents the Queens side of the bridge.