Posted on January 31, 2014 at 11:21 am by West Sider

By Emily Baer

Upper West Siders demanded action on Thursday night to make the blocks around West 96th street and Broadway safer following the deaths of three pedestrians in a two-block radius since the start of the year.

Residents of the UWS gathered Thursday evening at the Goddard Riverside Community Center to hear the Department of Transportation’s proposed plan to change traffic patterns on West 96th and Broadway intersection. NYPD officials, local politicians and at least 100 residents showed up. Inspector Barry asked for a moment of silence to honor the victims of recent crashes.

Part of the Department of Transportation’s proposed plan is to increase the length of walk signals for pedestrians so they aren’t rushed when crossing. Changes to the turn signals for vehicles turning left are also part of the proposal, as well as adding a cross walk from median to median. Another suggested change is to lengthen the amber signal (aka yellow light). There was a strong negative reaction to this, as many people felt that allowing more time will just increase the speed of traffic, because cars will try to speed up to avoid getting stuck at the red light, thus endangering more pedestrians.

Residents brought up the possibility of installing red light camera in the intersection (which may help slow down traffic). A DOT rep responded that the city is only allowed a certain number of these cameras and there were no more to use. The crowd booed to this and said there is no other intersection in NYC with this type of problem. There is a legitimate need for cameras. Several people agreed that a 4-way simultaneous stop signal would increase the length of the red signal to cars and to pedestrians more time to safely cross all points of the intersection.

The DOT estimates it will take 2 to 4 weeks to make these changes. They will hopefully be complete by March.

Dr. Barron Lerner (right), the maternal uncle of Cooper Stock, the nine-year-old boy killed on 97th street and West End Avenue on Jan. 10, read a statement prepared by Cooper’s family. The family hopes that local politics won’t get in the way of making this area safer for all and said that the focus needs to be on reckless and distracted drivers, not pedestrians or bike riders. The family was particularly upset that in 2008 and 2010 there was a proposed plan brought up by community activists to make the area safer, but it was ignored. (Update: Gothamist has video of Dr. Lerner’s speech and we’ve posted it below)

Another speaker said he was impressed by the city’s initial response. Barry Zucker, who resides at 97th street and West End, said that the DOT’s proposal was much better than he had expected.

The consensus opinion among crowd members appeared to be that West End Avenue, Broadway, West 96th and 97th streets must be addressed as a whole and that any changes will impact the flow of traffic of all streets.

Read the DOT’s plan here.

Photos by Emily Baer.