  |
 Pedestrian Advocates Say Atlantic Ave. Horror Easily PreventedSubtitleBollards would have saved moms, babies killed on median; Plus Stop Hundreds of Serious Pedestrian Injuries Each Year; Sturdy, inexpensive posts able to stop run-away cars in their tracks; Call on DOT to Act Quickly to Protect Pedestrians on Median Strips
In the wake of Wednesday's gruesome traffic massacre of two young mothers and their babies on Atlantic Avenue, Transportation Alternatives (T.A.) is calling on New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Iris Weinshall to take immediate action to make median strips safe for pedestrians and prevent further horrors by stopping curb mounting motorists. "Commissioner Weinshall
must prevent another Atlantic Avenue horror by installing sturdy, inexpensive
bollards to protect pedestrians waiting on median strips. Without bollards to
protect them, pedestrians on median islands are lined up like human bowling pins
waiting to be mowed down. Next time it may be a heart attack or reckless driving
instead of a drug daze that causes a motorist to mount the median strip - but
the pedestrians will be just as dead." Transportation Alternatives urges Commissioner Weinshall to do three things: 1. Protect pedestrians waiting on existing medians on major streets by installing inexpensive, heavy duty protective bollards or concrete walls. The bollards, sturdy steel posts buried in the ground, will stop 15,000 pound trucks traveling 50 mph and cost $2,500 to buy and install. Six are needed to protect the median at each intersection (three per side), at a cost of $15,000 per intersection or $300,000 per mile. 2. Enlarge pedestrian waiting areas or "refuges" at intersections to a minimum of six feet as recommended by the Federal American with Disabilities Commission. A mother pushing the more popular brands of stroller stretches about six feet. Many NYC medians are four feet or less. 3. Make sure that the medians on busy streets have planters or high curbs to stop motorists from mounting the curb and driving along the median. Good examples of this are Route 9A / West Side Highway, Park Avenue and Broadway Mall, Manhattan; Kings Highway near Ave. P Brooklyn. Naperstak Adds: "On Queens Boulevard, Commissioner Weinshall acted decisively to save pedestrian. lives. We need her to move with the same urgency and determination to make pedestrian medians safe on Atlantic Avenue and busy streets throughout the city." Additional information:
Submitted by rick on January 28, 2008 - 11:51. categories [ ]
|