Manhattan, NY – Crossing Delancey is taking your life in your hands.
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In the last dozen years, there have been 523 motor vehicle accidents at the intersection of Essex and Delancey Sts. – 134 involving pedestrians and bicyclists – according to figures for 1998 to 2010 obtained from the state Department of Transportation.
Three people died.
According to state DOT records, there have been a total of 258 injuries due to motor vehicle accidents at the intersection. The vast majority of the accidents occurred on dry roadway, and only 20 involved trucks.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne did not respond to a request for comment about police enforcement at the intersection.
A spokesman for the city Department of Transportation said steps have been taken to make Delancey and Essex Sts. safer and more are planned.
“The agency added a leading pedestrian interval at Essex and Delancey in 2008, giving pedestrians exclusive time to cross the street ahead of turning vehicles,” DOT spokesman Monty Dean said in a statement. “Pedestrian countdown signals will [also] be installed, helping pedestrians to avoid being caught in the crosswalk when the light changes.”
Dean noted that reengineered streets and retimed traffic signals led to 21% fewer pedestrian fatalities in 2010 than in 2001.
“Our goal is to cut traffic injuries and fatalities even further, and we’ll continue to work with communities to make their streets safer for pedestrians, bikers and motorists,” he said.
People crossing the street at the entrance to the bridge? Clearly this design is over 100 years old. Time for a raised pedestrian bridge to allow people safe passage across the road.
the bikes come zipping off the bridge at very fast speeds.
I guess bloomberg and the DOT so called commisionar, don’t care about accidents the main thing is there should be 2 bike lans on each side of delancy,
I drive the bridge every day I can tell u that 90% of the accidents r caused by these careless drivers who cut n zigzag, that they scare away drivers and cuz them 2do short stops, etc.
That’s the problem not the cars