After 7 years of dogged persistence on the part of our members, the south crossing at 42nd Street and 9th Avenue is now much safer.
When the light turns red on 9th Avenue, pedestrians now get the WALK signal immediately, while the drivers turning from 42nd Street do not have the green arrow. If the drivers try to turn south, the incoming eastbound traffic prevents them from doing so. The arrow turns green when the south crossing pedestrian countdown comes to 0 and the eastbound traffic is stopped.
This configuration makes a huge difference in terms of safety as attested by all traffic calming manuals . Ted, a traffic Agent who is posted there often, told us how much better this is for everyone.
This change had been recommended by the Safe routes for Senior Traffic Study. We are grateful to DOT’s Manhattan Borough Commissioner Margaret Forgione , and Commissioner Janet Sadik – Kahn for this crucial improvement.
Thank you for fighting the good fight on this one, and winning! Now we need to educate pedestrians on following these new signals as they’re not used to the timing. In the mean time I will continue to shout out, “Watch out!”
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