Mayor Adams says NYC beat safety goal with 1,200 ‘fixed’ intersections

The town has “mounted” greater than 1,200 harmful intersections to this point this 12 months, outpacing the 1,000-intersection goal it set initially of 2022, Mayor Eric Adams stated Sunday.

The enhancements, which fluctuate by intersection, embody including raised crosswalks, visitors indicators that give pedestrians a “head begin” and extra cease indicators, in addition to increasing protected pedestrian house into the roadway, in response to metropolis officers.

“We’ve met our objectives and have exceeded them,” Adams stated throughout an look in Manhattan.

Hizzoner in January pledged to make “security enhancements” at 1,000 intersections in 2022. On Sunday, the mayor stated the town would in truth “repair” 1,400 by the top of the 12 months.

“Crashes at intersections account for 50 p.c of all fatalities and seventy p.c of all accidents,” he stated.

“If we zero in on these harmful intersections, we may have an actual influence.”

To date this 12 months, the town has put in 350 “all-way cease indicators,” constructed bike racks to increase pedestrian house at 100 intersections and added 100 raised crosswalks, officers stated.

Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez final week declared, “The way forward for New York Metropolis is car-free.”

Credit score: Benny Polatseck/Mayoral

The town beneath Mayor Eric Adams will spend greater than $900 million within the subsequent 5 years to increase bike lanes and different “security” measures.

NYC Mayor's Workplace

The town added new pedestrian house on Eighth Avenue close to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Credit score: Benny Polatseck/Mayoral

Adams spoke Sunday alongside Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, who final week proclaimed the town’s future was in “going car-free.” Sunday’s announcement befell on Eighth Avenue in Midtown the place the town dramatically expanded the sidewalk.

“At six o’clock at night time, or at 5 o’clock, that is lined with an unlimited quantity of pedestrian [traffic] which [is] all going into the [Port Authority] bus terminal — you possibly can’t transfer right here,” Hell’s Kitchen activist Christine Berthet stated of the brand new gravel pedestrian space. “This isn't luxurious, this can be a necessity.”

The town claims to have made security enhancements at 1,200 intersections to this point this 12 months.

New York Metropolis Division of Tran

Requested whether or not he agreed with Rodriguez’s utopian car-free imaginative and prescient, Adams stated he “loves the idea.

“I feel you’re going to see an evolution of how these cities function,” the mayor stated. “Will it's in my time in workplace? I doubt that. However clearly, you’re going to share extra dependable transportation infrastructure, and also you’re going to essentially decrease the quantity of autos which are used on our streets.”