Safer Crossings Coming To Queens
By Jason Banrey
The loud and bustling intersection at 108th Street and Northern Boulevard in Corona came to a halt as children and senior citizens crossed one of Queens’ busiest boulevards hand-in-hand with some of the city’s biggest decision makers.
Making use of newly installed Pedestrian Countdown Signals, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and State Sen. Jose Peralta (D-Corona) made it safely across Northern Boulevard without a scratch showing the residents of Corona just how much safer the streets of Queens will become.
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| Pedestrian countdown signals will soon be located along major roads throughout Queens.
Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen |
Scheduled to be installed at locations throughout the city’s major multi-lane streets and avenues, the countdown feature aims to lower pedestrian fatalities, which accounted for 52 percent of traffic fatalities and serious injuries in New York City from 2005-2009.
“The pedestrian countdown clock system will show pedestrians how much time they have before the traffic signal changes against them at 1,500 intersections along major thoroughfares in all five boroughs,” said Bloomberg.
Peralta acknowledged the importance of the countdown signals and the significance of preserving lives in his district.
“[Northern Boulevard] does not want to get the representation that Queens Boulevard has, which is the ‘Boulevard of Death.’ We want to make sure that Northern Boulevard is seen as anything but that,” said Peralta.
After the analysis of eight years of data from 7,000 crash records and thorough observation of video surveillance of pedestrian behavior at specific locations along the city’s major corridors, the DOT discovered pedestrian fatalities have occurred disproportionately along the city’s chosen points of installation.
The agency also discovered the main factors that contributed to pedestrian fatalities were caused by speeding; driver inattention, which was cited in 36 percent of crashes resulting in pedestrians killed or seriously injured and drivers’ failure to yield, which was cited for 27 percent of fatal pedestrian accidents.
The city will introduce new action plans to engineer safer streets in the city that will include new parking regulations, improved traffic signaling and more bicycle lanes, along with continuing to reengineer other city lanes that are plagued with crashes.
Queens pedestrian countdown signal locations will stretch along many of the borough’s major arteries including Woodhaven Boulevard, from Queens Boulevard to Rockaway Boulevard; Queens Boulevard, from Van Dam Street to Hillside Avenue; and Jamaica Avenue, from 172nd Street to 257th Street.
Installations of the new countdown pedestrian signals will start within a month and continue through the end of 2011. A complete listing of the 1,500 locations where countdown signals will be installed is available at nyc.gov.
Reach Intern Jason Banrey at jbanrey@queenstribune.com or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 128.