City Offers Solutions Amid Traffic Concerns In Washington Heights

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — The Department of Transportation presented to Upper Manhattan's Community Board 12 earlier in December about the ongoing speeding and reckless driving concerns on Amsterdam and Fort George Avenues along West 188th Street to St. Nicholas Avenue.

There are eight local schools in and around the Upper Manhattan study area.

From 2014 and 2018, the specific Washington Heights corridor has seen 45 traffic-related injuries, with two deaths, according to the DOT.

During the five-year period, 41 percent of the motor-vehicle injuries were part of rear-end crashes, which is indicative of speeding.

Additionally, with eight local schools around the study area, 17 percent of the pedestrian and bicycle injuries in the corridor have involved children — much higher than the 6 percent average in Manhattan.

Injury Summary For Study Area (2014-2018)

• Pedestrian: 5 injuries
• Bicyclist: 2 injuries
• Motor Vehicle Occupant: 38 injuries, 4 severe injures, 2 deaths

In recent months, the DOT has been working closely with I Challenge Myself (ICM), an afterschool program for students at George Washington Educational Campus (located just north of 193rd Street) to develop a safety proposal for the Upper Manhattan streets.

Their collaborative work found that 63 percent of cars drive faster than the 25 MPH speed limit on Amsterdam and 190th Street.

The wide steep hills in the study area, especially those starting on Fort George Avenue and 190th Street "encourage speeding", according to the DOT.

The recent study also pointed to long crosswalks, wide one-lane roadways, and blocked bike lanes in the Upper Manhattan area as another traffic-related safety concern in the area.

After laying out the issues for Community Board 12, the DOT also provided a set of solutions it thought could help improve traffic conditions in the area.

Those solutions include creating shorter pedestrian crossings across streets next to schools and senior centers, adding pedestrian islands in the middle of streets, and inserting protected bike lanes.

You can check out a more detailed look at the solutions, along with renderings — on the DOT's website.