Cross walk improvements
PARK SLOPE, Brooklyn, N.Y. — A female driver careened into two mothers walking with their young children as the pedestrians stepped onto a crosswalk. The two adults suffered severe injuries, and one of them lost her unborn child. Sadly, a 1-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl were killed in the crash. The crash happened at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Ninth Street in Park Slope. The fatal accident occurred in the middle of the day. Now, according to amny.com, the New York Department of Transportation has redesigned the intersection to make it much safer. Park Slope residents are impressed by the speed with which the City completed the job.
The City just needed six months to make sweeping changes to the dangerous Ninth Street corridor. Locals advocates echoed calls for reform for some time before the tragic crash that claimed the two children. The City completed the changes in September of 2018. A spokesperson for the Mayor’s office said that the changes are consonant with the City’s Vision Zero plan. The spokesperson said that the City decided to redesign the Ninth Street corridor.
Amny.com reported that the City did not have data available to demonstrate that the changes were effective. Notwithstanding, the City implemented changes that, when applied in other areas of the City, showed marked improvement and made traveling through those areas safer. The Ninth Street corridor changes include the addition of a green bicycle lane, pedestrian islands, and turning restrictions.
The protected bike lanes assist pedestrians as well as cyclists. Motor vehicles are not allowed to drive in the protected bike lanes. Therefore, the distance a person must walk to cross the street theoretically exposed to traffic is shortened.
Some people say that the changes are not enough and are calling for more alterations of the Ninth Street corridor. People who use the area suggest that cardboard pedestrian islands are insufficient. Many people believe that permanent concrete islands will make walking safer. Lastly, the success of the Ninth Street improvements begs the question of why the City is unwilling to make rapid changes in other locations.
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