We've been writing about the pedestrian crossing signals on the Bowery at East Third Street and East Fourth Street ... there's a newish 7-second countdown to cross six lanes of traffic...
One reader reported getting clipped by a truck here late night... Goggla noted this: "Too many vehicles blow the red lights and the constant construction makes things worse. Down at 3rd, cars turning north onto Bowery also go way too fast and seem not to care if anyone is trying to cross ... I've definitely had some close calls along this stretch."
And in the past few weeks since our post on June 18, several readers have said that they lodged complaints via 311.
The other morning, we waited at East Fourth Street to get across the Bowery. We followed behind the resident pictured at top of this post. She was just halfway across the intersection before the 7-second countdown began.
She still had a lane to go when the light changed. She started moving the moment the "walk" sign started flashing. And she wasn't dawdling. The woman simply didn't have enough time to cross a treacherous intersection. She's certainly not alone.
We'll repeat what we wrote earlier... This is especially a short signal considering that the Evelyn and Louis Green Residence at Cooper Square is on the corner at East Fifth Street... and the residents here and their visitors might likely need more time crossing a busy street... Why not a 25-second countdown like at the 14th Street intersections?
Will change finally arrive when someone gets run over at this intersection?
15 comments:
Absolutely agree. The Bowery is more of a mess for pedestrians than ever in this stretch what with the never-ending construction (just when will it end??) and the patchwork of crossing islands, dividers, walk signs, etc. When will the promised park/plaza here be put in place instead?
- East Villager
the entire bowery/third avenue stretch from houston to 14th street is a pedestrian crossing nightmare.
the entire strip has a very short time to cross that gets even shorter as you go south from 14th street to houston street.
add to that the drivers that ignore the lights the bikes that feel they are free to flyin any lane or direction and you have a very serious problem for anybody not able to run across this avenue.
not just the jasa senior residents have a problem.
Thank you for this post. When my father-in-law visits (he's 85 and uses a cane) my heart is in my throat every time we cross the Bowery at E 3rd or 4th. It's an insanely, impossibly short light for the elderly and disabled.
I will call 311, but is there anything else we can do?
So good of you to bring attention to and document this issue, Grieve. Your blog serves an ENORMOUS boon to the community. Thanks for all that you do.
This is the kind of thing our esteemed local politicians should be all over. Where are they?
Grieve, do you know how long the crossing takes to go from green to red at Bowery? I believe the crossing at Union Square is the same as the crossings on upper Park Ave where there is also six lanes and the crossing takes 30 seconds from green to red. The crossing light goes from green to counting down in 5 seconds leaving a 25 second countdown. If the crossings at Bowery are already 30 seconds green to red I'm sure it's a pretty simple fix but if the light goes from green to red in less than 30 seconds then it will probably be a much bigger issue with the DOT.
@ Kurt
Good question... I need to time it.
Completely agree. I've found myself barely making it across here. Way too short, and people do drive like mad in both directions.
Mayor Bloomberg is very concerned. Once he completes the giveaway of closet sized housing to developers, he will get right on this. Probably.
Bloombugger cares more about the damn cyclists than he does about senior citizens. As for the Park Avenue crossings, Park has those nice big traffic islands in the middle, where Bowery does not. I'm fit and young(ish) and even on my way to and from my gym I have trouble with those lights.
The traffic lights are pretty much pointless anyway because there is no traffic enforcement.
What's a green light going to do for you when an organized-crime-owned company's garbage truck comes flying through the red light?
Thanks to help from EV Grieve's coverage, DOT was approached and strong pressure was applied. The problem should be resolved within a week.
Check out 19th-22nd Streets on First Avenue. They are very pedestrian-friendly when it comes to crossing the avenue. It might be coincidence, or the influence of the Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village population, but it is a good, safe model that might be copied on 3rd, 4th, and 5th streets on the Bowery.
Bloomie or his minions are probably doing this to freak out the elderly folk in the residence home enough for them to demand the operation be moved to the Bronx with the outcome being Bloomie gets to knock it down and dole out the property to one of his buddies to put up condos on.
Is that Madonna?
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