Dangerous Road Design Putting Walkers, Bikers at Risk in Upstate NY

A new report from AARP New York, authored by Tri-State’s Michelle Ernst, highlights the dangers to pedestrians and bicyclists in five upstate counties.  The report, Making New York a Complete Streets State, examines state and federal data to identify the most dangerous intersections to walk or bicycle in upstate’s most populous counties.  Its release at the end of May was timed to draw attention to and build support for currently pending “Complete Streets” legislation. And garner attention it did, with significant coverage in the Buffalo News (which ran an editorial in favor of complete streets today), Syracuse’s W-SYR, Albany Times-Union, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin, and other media.

From 2006 through 2008, 110 people were killed while walking or bicycling in Albany, Broome, Erie, Monroe, and Onondaga Counties.  Another 6,394 people were injured.  Older people were disproportionately represented in the fatal crashes, comprising 25 percent of pedestrian and bicyclist deaths, though they make up only 19 percent of the population in those five counties. Like many of the dangerous intersections in downstate New York, the worst upstate intersections feature wide arterial roads and a lack of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.

The wide intersection of South Geddes and Seymour Streets in Syracuse is characteristic of upstate New York's most dangerous intersections. Note the absence of a crosswalk across S. Geddes St, the faded crosswalk across Seymour St, rounded corners that allow drivers to take turns at high speed, gaps in the sidewalk on one side of S. Geddes, and the bicyclist forced onto the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Unfortunately, this standard of road design is all too common upstate.

With five pedestrian injuries and five bicyclist injuries during the three-year period, the intersection of South Geddes and Seymour Streets in Syracuse (pictured above) was named upstate New York’s most dangerous for bicycling and walking.  Other dangerous intersections were the corner of Alexander Street and Monroe Ave in Rochester, and Abbott Road and Cazenovia St/Lorraine Ave in Buffalo, each with 9 incidents.  A full listing can be found in the report and in county fact sheets at the end of the report.  Maps identifying each fatality and all intersections with three or more incidents are also available, with links found in the county fact sheets.

AARP NY called on the legislature to pass the “Complete Streets” legislation (S5711/A8587), which has advanced to the State Senate floor but is still awaiting a vote in the Assembly Transportation Committee.  The group also recommended that NYSDOT expand and enhance its SafeSeniors program (an infrastructure retrofit program currently focused on making Long Island intersections safer), and that the state create a task force to develop future policy recommendations for improving pedestrian and bicyclist safety.

Image: Google Street View from AARP report.