In the wake of Tri-State’s recently-released Most Dangerous Roads for Walking report, which analyzed pedestrian fatalities in the region, officials and policymakers from throughout the region affirmed that pedestrian safety is priority number one.
New York State Department of Transportation spokesman Bill Reynolds assured New Yorkers of his agency’s commitment to improving the Hempstead Turnpike—our region’s most dangerous road—and there are reports that the safety measures will include stoplight timing and crosswalk modifications.
Reynolds also added that the state “will be taking a close look at conditions on the Sunrise Highway,” which was the region’s third most dangerous road this year.
An advisor to Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said that Brooklyn’s Fourth Avenue—one of the borough’s most dangerous roads—should be fixed: “[s]tatistics like these are a sobering reminder of why we need a comprehensive plan to improve Fourth Avenue from Atlantic Avenue to the Atlantic Ocean…I look forward to working with elected officials, community groups and community boards to address these safety concerns as soon as possible.”
Joseph Dee, a New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) spokesman, agreed with Tri-State’s assessment of dangerous arterial roads, but unfortunately his response seemed to pass the buck:
“[A]rterial roads…were built long ago for auto travel…now they have shopping malls and developments built along them and they were never designed to accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians. It’s a difficult task to build those accommodations after the fact,” he said. He also urged pedestrians to use designated crosswalks.
Although improving arterial roads may be difficult, it can and has been done: New Jersey has already installed 5,665 feet of sidewalk on the Black Horse Pike, which was Atlantic County’s most dangerous road.
Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) spokesman Kevin Nursick told the New Haven Register that “drawing attention to transportation safety is definitely important,” and agreed that arterials were especially hazardous. Nursick also pointed out that local governments share some of the blame for pedestrian fatalities.
“The majority of bicycle and pedestrian accidents don’t occur on state roads. They occur on local roads where the DOT doesn’t have any jurisdiction,” he said.
Media outlets and leading opinion makers chimed in on the importance of safer streets for all users of the road, including the New York Times Clyde Haberman. Mr. Haberman highlighted the sober reality that New Yorkers are now more likely to be killed by “a stranger at the wheel than by a stranger with a gun.”
Clearly more can be done. For full list of TSTC’s recommendations visit here.
“Jersey barriers” are used to keep cars on their own side of the road, but there is nothing to keep cars off the sidewalks or pedestrians off the streets (other than painted crosswalks).
The next time around, it would be highly advisable to include pedesrtrian injuries as well. This would greatly augment the data set and thereby enhance the ability to draw more meaningful corridor-specific conclusions.