08/16/2010 // West Palm Beach, FL, USA // Tara Monks // Tara Monks
New York, NY – The New York City transportation department announced its intention to put 1,500 pedestrian countdown clocks at intersections and lower speed limits in neighborhoods in efforts to lower pedestrian fatalities, as reported by New York Daily News.
According to officials, at least 20 miles of roadway will receive “intensive safety redesigns,” which include intersection islands to offer pedestrians refuge amid large, busy avenues.
A recent review of over 7,000 automobile accidents in the city resulted in the changes, according to city officials. Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan explained, “It’s a huge study that has significant findings, and we have a really ambitious action plan.”
The city has a goal of bringing traffic fatalities to 137, annually, by 2030.
The Department of Transportation also plans to reduce neighborhood speeds from 30 mph to 20 mph.
The number of 20 mph school zones will be expanded to 175 by the end of 2011. At the beginning of 2010, there were only 25 marked school zones, according to Sadik-Khan.
The new safety tools will be focused along wide thoroughfares such as Broadway in Manhattan, Fordham Rd. in the Bronx, Queens Blvd, in Queens, Fourth Ave in Brooklyn and Hylan Blvd. in Staten Island.
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