Transit Group Tackles Most Dangerous Streets

A transit advocacy group has identified the five most dangerous intersections on the East Side's and is aiming to halve the number of vehicle crashes that result in pedestrian and cyclist injuries or death each year. Transportation Alternatives, a non-profit that promotes walking, biking and public transit in New York City, is organizing an â??East Side Streets Coalition that will host a series of community forums. The goal is to determine what the city can do to make the Upper East Side a less hazardous place for pedestrians and cyclists, and to compile an â??East Side Action Plan of recommendations to be released this fall. The group collected data on crash locations involving automobiles, and either cyclists or pedestrians, from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles through a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request. Working with a grant from the Governor"s Office of Traffic Safety, the advocacy group hired a Geographic Information System mapping specialist to analyze the data, which includes statistics from 1995 through 2008, and created a map showing the most dangerous areas of the Upper East Side. â??The state collects meticulous crash data. It belongs to all of us. But it"s seldom made public without a FOIL request, said Julia Day, a planner and advocate with Transportation Alternatives who is spearheading the campaign. â??This is empowering information for anyone fighting to make their block safer, and New Yorkers deserve to see it. Between 1995 and 2008, the most dangerous intersection was East 86th Street and Third Avenue, with 63 crashes. East 59th Street and Madison Avenue was next with 52 crashes, followed by East 61st Street and Second Avenue with 50 crashes. Tied for fourth and fifth place were East 96th Street and Second Avenue, and East 86th Street and Second Avenue, both of which logged 48 crashes. She said that some of the results were predictable. â??We were expecting that the major corridors on the Upper East Side would have the highest rate of crashes. It seems to make sense that 86th really stands out, Day said, citing the heavy foot traffic, crosstown buses and nearby schools. What did surprise the group was that not much has been done to address these high-risk areas. A number of factors contribute to these hazards. For one thing, Day said, many main streets are designed primarily to move vehicle traffic and are very wide and difficult to cross. People try to beat the walk signs and run to the other side of the street when cars approach. The sidewalks are also too narrow for the volume of pedestrians, which makes it especially tough for kids and seniors. Day also pointed to a lack of enforcement of traffic laws. Double-parked cars and drivers blocking the box at intersections force pedestrians farther out into the street to see if it"s clear. Cars often speed to catch a green light. According to Transportation Alternatives, a crash involving a pedestrian or cyclist in which the vehicle is traveling at 30 mph will result in the pedestrian"s death about 50 percent of the time; if the vehicle is going 40 mph, that chance becomes almost 100 percent. â??Great enforcement from the NYPD is needed in some form, Day said. That might include installing cameras at traffic lights to catch and discourage speeders, and increasing ticketing of unsafe driving and parking. Contacted for a comment about Transportation Alternatives" initiative, Scott Gastel, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation, wrote in an email: â??Safety is our top priority and while traffic fatalities have never been lower in the city"s recorded history, we will work even harder to make our streets even safer for everyone who uses them. Craig Rafael, who lives at East 75th Street and Lexington Avenue, is one person who agrees that the streets aren"t safe for non-motorists. Rafael used to live in Brooklyn and biked to work in downtown Manhattan, but now he won"t take the chance. â??There are really just no facilities for bicycling whatsoever, and you"re just taking your life in your hands, he said. Rafael said he notices cars routinely speeding, and that he thinks better enforcement is needed, as well as a restructuring of roads to include safe bike routes. â??I would absolutely ride my bike, I would even commute to work, if there were dedicated bike lanes, he said. Currently, there is only one major painted bike lane on the Upper East Side, running on First Avenue from East 73rd Street up to East Harlem, and just three painted lanes on area side streets (East 90th, 91st and a slice of 89th streets). Though local leaders have recently pushed for more protected bike lanes, a fully fleshed out network still seems a few years away. In coming up with suggested improvements, the coalition plans to reference the 2009 NYC Street Design Manual, which outlines ways streets can be modified to address specific problems, as well as the 2010 Active Design Guidelines, which promotes designs that allow people to lead more physically active lives through both regular daily activities and recreation. Both documents are intra-agency collaborations produced by the city. Day said that the group hopes to use crash maps to focus the conversation around certain areas. The meetings aim to attract people involved with schools and senior centers, business and block associations, and anyone else with concerns about and ideas for addressing street safety. The first meeting, focused on the Upper East Side, will be held Tuesday, March 16, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the Wagner Middle School cafeteria, 220 E. 76th St. A meeting focused on the East Midtown area is scheduled for Tuesday, March 23, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the Vanderbilt YMCA"s fifth floor conference room, 224 E. 47th St. For more information about the initiative, visit [www.transalt.org/eastsidestreets](http://www.transalt.org/campaigns/pedestrian/eastsidestreets) or contact [julia@transalt.org](mailto:julia@transalt.org) or 212-629-8080.