As CB 10 Dithers, Espaillat and Levine Urge DOT to Act on Morningside Ave.

While Manhattan Community Board 10 refuses to endorse pedestrian safety improvements for Morningside Avenue in Harlem, two lawmakers are urging DOT to move forward.

After sending a similar letter in January, State Senator Adriano Espaillat and City Council Member Mark Levine wrote DOT again this week [PDF] to praise the agency’s plan for a Morningside Avenue road diet, and to ask Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg to “take immediate steps toward implementation.”

As we approach summer recess, we are increasingly concerned about the potential for children to be put in harm’s way. This community should not have to wait any longer for these common sense improvements, which have received overwhelming public support including from North Star Neighborhood Association, Friends of Morningside Park, Community Board 9 and over 1,000 local residents.

We thank you again for the substantial number of opportunities for public comment that have been held on this proposal, and the design changes that have been made as a result of broad community consensus. We are confident that DOT has adequately answered each of [the] concerns raised in the community over the course of the last year.

Developed last year at the behest of local residents, the proposal aims to reduce speeding on Morningside by converting it from four to two through lanes, with a center median and concrete pedestrian islands, from 116th to 126th Street. It was endorsed by Community Board 9 in November, but CB 10 members who oppose reducing the number of car lanes have waylaid the project. Meanwhile, DOT is developing an alternate plan in response to CB 10’s objections.

The CB 10 transportation committee, where the road diet plan has languished since last September, will meet tonight. With Espaillat and Levine again weighing in, a strong showing from residents who want to see a safer Morningside Avenue could help propel the road diet proposal out of committee once and for all. Tonight’s meeting starts at 6:30 in the third floor conference room at 215 W. 125th Street.