Manhattan CB 7 to DOT: Make Broadway a Safe Neighborhood Street Instead of a Speedway

Manhattan Community Board 7 is calling on DOT to improve safety on the Upper West Side’s most dangerous street.

Broadway feels like a highway where it cuts through one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the city. Over the past five years, drivers have seriously injured more than 600 people between 59th Street and 110th Street, according to data compiled by CB 7. City data shows 10 people have been killed in traffic on Broadway since 2012.

While there are “malls” in the median, they’re designed in a way that speeds traffic, with raised concrete walls that make Broadway feel like a pair of one-way speed tracks instead of a neighborhood street.

Earlier this year, CB 7 organized a “Broadway Task Force,” which met over the course of a few months to prepare an official request for DOT to address traffic safety concerns.

On Tuesday, CB 7 endorsed a resolution written by the task force calling on DOT to put forward a proposal that “incorporates the best practices of modern street design that ensures safety for all users,” with the explicit goal of reducing injuries and deaths by at least half.

The resolution further asks that DOT, “[create] a vibrant and attractive street that safely and efficiently serves the needs of all neighborhood users including the elderly, children, residents, tourists, restaurants, stores and other businesses.”

Broadway has the kind of high-speed design that shouldn’t exist in a Vision Zero city. Now it’s up to DOT to come up with a plan.