Petition for change creates crosswalk controversy

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Riverdale Avenue has been the subject of many experiments, projects and gripes. A speed camera was installed in front of P.S. 81 Robert J. Christen in 2013 as part of a pilot program at schools that has since been expanded dramatically.

On top of that, elected officials and pedestrians have called for traffic studies, speed bumps and other measures to make the street safer over the years.

A new kind of dissatisfaction has cropped up recently near West 231st Street, and it has nothing to do with slowing down cars on Riverdale Avenue. Instead, one driver has started a petition calling for the removal of one of two crosswalks at the intersection of Riverdale Avenue and West 231st near Ewen Park.

The petition-writer, who did not respond to requests for comment, called the area a “ticket trap” — taking part in conversations in social media about recent law enforcement efforts to ticket vehicles that drive through crosswalks with pedestrians in them — and that the northern crosswalk was unsafe for pedestrians.

The crosswalk in question is at what is already a bit of a complicated intersection. There, an elevated southbound-traveling side road off Riverdale Avenue meets with the main avenue, just in time for it to split in two directions past West 231st toward West 230th Street.

If that weren’t enough, Irwin Avenue also starts there, running almost parallel to Riverdale Avenue until it gets past the West 232nd Street step street.

The crosswalk in question ultimately traverses across the single lane of Irwin, over four lanes of Riverdale Avenue — including one a dedicated left turn lane onto West 231st — and then over the remaining part of the additional elevated southbound lane of Riverdale Avenue.

Cars and buses driving south on Riverdale Avenue looking to make that left turn onto West 231st almost assuredly have to cross and even stop inside that crosswalk — which if there are pedestrians in that crosswalk, is actually against the law.

Last September, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Councilman Andrew Cohen and U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel gathered to call for a traffic study on Riverdale Avenue from West 230th to West 239th streets after David Keck and his daughter Amy were hit by a car. Earlier this year, the city’s transportation department announced it will install a left turn signal from Riverdale Avenue to West 231st, no longer forcing southbound vehicles seeking a way to Broadway from making an unprotected turn.

Started by Emin Kaunis, the petition has garnered just a dozen digital signatures on Change.org. A description published with the petition claims there is no need for two crosswalks, saying that retaining only the southern crosswalk on the other side of West 231st would provide a greater “safety margin” for pedestrians.

“When you say ‘trap,’ what does that mean?” Dinowitz asked of the petition. “It’s not a trap. You make that decision on your own volition. I make that turn every day myself. If I see someone crossing, I wait for them to cross.”

New York drivers can be ticketed for failing to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk, including pulling forward to turn.

West 231st is a busy thoroughfare, littered with shops and restaurants. P.S./M.S. 37, International Leadership, and the Kingsbridge Public Library are all within blocks of the intersection.

Hector Serrano, who works at the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center and frequents the area as both a pedestrian and a driver doing pickup at a local after-school program, said there is “no way” the crosswalk should be removed.

“The amount of kids, adults as well, that use it is, well it’s a lot,” Serrano said. “It’s much safer. I understand that it is a really long stretch. But I guarantee you kids will continue to cross there with or without a crosswalk.”

Dinowitz hopes the proposed left-turn signal will make the entire intersection safer, especially for pedestrians trying to make their way across Riverdale Avenue.

“The turn signal will alleviate traffic backup, and I think hopefully there will be less congestion,” the Assemblyman said. “That means greater safety.”

The left-turn project is not yet included among DOT’s street projects. Left-turn signals are in line with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero initiative, as they allow drivers to turn safely without worrying about pedestrians crossing or cars driving forward.

There were three pedestrian injuries at West 231st and Riverdale Avenue in 2019 as of Sept. 30, according to DOT statistics

Left-turns are one of the most dangerous times for pedestrians, according to traffic experts, because drivers are focused on multiple things around them, and often have a blind spot caused by the pillar between their driver’s side window and windshield.

Left turns lead to accidents with pedestrian three times as often as right turns, according to the DOT, and in more than half of those cases, the pedestrian was crossing with the signal.

Dinowitz called Kaunis’ petition a “non-starter,” and does not plan to address it.

“Banning pedestrians from crossing is not the way to make it safer,” the Assemblyman said. “People have just as much right to cross as cars have to make a turn.”

Jeffrey Dinowitz, Andrew Cohen, Eliot Engel, Emin Kaunis, Hector Serrano, Riverdale Avenue

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