Pedestrian Infrastructure
Streetsblog Basics
Seattle Campaign to #GivePedsTheGreen Would Do Away With “Beg Buttons”
A petition in Seattle is calling on the city to do away with "beg buttons" and automatically give pedestrians a walk signal at every traffic light in its "urban villages" -- areas that are walkable and transit-oriented.
March 24, 2017
Eyes on the Street: New Pedestrian Islands on Northern Boulevard
The dangerous five-legged intersection of Northern Boulevard, 34th Avenue, and 48th Street has a new pedestrian island, sidewalk extension, and crosswalks. Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg joined Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer on Friday to unveil the improvements.
March 6, 2017
Coming Soon, Maybe: The Return of Pedestrian-Friendly 32nd Street
In 2015, a temporary sidewalk expansion relieved crowding on a block of 32nd Street with heavy foot traffic between Penn Station and Herald Square, but the project was scrapped after a trial run. Now advocates are pushing to bring it back, and they recently won the support of Manhattan Community Board 5.
February 14, 2017
NYC DOT Tests Out a New, Faster Way to Build Raised Crosswalks
While the city has built raised crosswalks elsewhere as part of large capital projects, this is the first time they've been installed as a standalone safety improvement.
January 9, 2017
Eyes on the Street: A Safer Walk to Transit By Sheepshead Bay Road
A DOT safety project in Sheepshead Bay is in effect after a rocky path to implementation.
December 13, 2016
Bronx CB 4 Wants the Grand Concourse to Work for Walking, Biking, Transit
Bronx Community Board 4 has endorsed a proposal to make the Grand Concourse a complete street with protected bike lanes, dedicated bus lanes, and pedestrian islands.
November 23, 2016
Eyes on the Street: Eastern Parkway Gets Removable Rubber Ped Islands
DOT has installed "removable rubber pedestrian islands" at two intersections on Eastern Parkway, two months after Mayor de Blasio authorized the removal of concrete pedestrian islands to ostensibly make room for the West Indian Day Parade.
November 2, 2016
Deadly Woodhaven Boulevard and NYC’s Broken Community Board Process
Yesterday morning, a driver struck and killed 13-year-old Jazmine Marin as she walked across Cross Bay Boulevard at 149th Avenue on her way to school. The location is deadly -- one other person has been struck and killed there since 2012, and Cross Bay is one of the most dangerous streets in the city. From 2009 to 2013, 17 pedestrians lost their lives on Cross Bay and Woodhaven Boulevard (the name of the same street north of Liberty Avenue) [PDF].
October 25, 2016
No More Stalling: DOT Redesigns Gerritsen Ave After Teen Cyclist’s Death
DOT will install a two-way protected bike lane and other traffic-calming measures on Gerritsen Avenue, the street next to Marine Park in southern Brooklyn where a drunk driver killed a teenage cyclist this summer [PDF].
October 24, 2016
Rodriguez Wants DOT to Remedy NYC’s Most Cramped Sidewalks
City Council transportation chair Ydanis Rodriguez wants DOT to address overcrowding on some of the city's most cramped sidewalks. A bill introduced this week would require DOT to identify 10 locations with the heaviest pedestrian traffic volumes and “develop strategies for improving safety and traffic flow at such locations.”
September 30, 2016