The white-striped crosswalk sits on top of a hump of asphalt. Pedestrians barely notice as they rush across, but drivers are in for a bumpy ride if they do not slow down. The crosswalk in northern Manhattan was raised four inches in the fall to try to slow traffic and make pedestrians more visible as they navigate a busy intersection where 26 people — including 14 pedestrians — have been injured in motor vehicle crashes in the past five years. — The New York Times
Following a surge in traffic deaths in New York, in which a total of 273 people, citywide, were killed in crashes last year, the highest since 2013, Mayor Eric Adams wants to raise hundreds of crosswalks across the city. With more people on the streets, occupying outdoor spaces opened up due to the pandemic, the return of traffic has increased safety risks. There are currently only 17 raised crosswalks out of the roughly 40,000 intersections across the city, which is a part of the streetscape where most injuries and deaths occur.
Starting this year, New York plans to add 100 raised crosswalks every year. This type of intervention has proven to be effective in improving safety and is relatively quick and inexpensive to install. The city also plans to redesign 1,000 dangerous intersections this year and will additionally target other problem spots such as parking lots and gas stations. The new crosswalks will be financed by city and federal funding.
3 Comments
Good. It's beyond time to reclaim the streets for the pedestrians. Driving should be the exception rather than the rule in urban area.
this seems like a simple and effective idea.
If our resident Dutch expert would like to educate US infrastructure planners and designers on how much better things can be by using examples from the Netherlands, I'd be all for it. In the meantime, here's a youtube video on continuous sidewalks/raised crosswalks.
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