June 5th marked the 4-month anniversary of the death of our neighbor, Ms. Shu Ying Liu, at the intersection of Ninth Avenue and W. 41st Street. She was hit by one of the many large trucks making the (west) right turn from Ninth Avenue onto W. 41st Street.
CHEKPEDS and CB4 both appealed to DOT and to our elected officials to expedite a solution to make this intersection safe. our elected send a strong letter to DOT. But adding insult to injury, in Queens, just three months after a fatality, DOT has already changed the signals and presented a larger plans to the community Board . Clearly, DOT is more responsive to Queens’ requests. We are appalled at this situation and very disheartened for Hell’s Kitchen residents.
We understand that DOT is working on it and the intersection is complex, but we have yet to hear what is the proposed intersection design to prevent pedestrian deaths and when such design will be implemented. We asked our elected officials to intervene directly to obtain a prompt resolution and they sent a strong letter to DOT.
This tragedy was avoidable. In 2008 CB4 resolution asked for “emergency interim measures” at this intersection: “On the west side, install a turn arrow red signal to give pedestrians a dedicated phase to cross safely.” This issue is also not new – there have been 46 injuries and 2 fatalities in recent years at this corner.
How many more tragedies will it take for this intersection to be fixed permanently? We need a solution that will save lives as soon as possible