Eyes on the Street: Safer Crossing Shaping Up at Broadway and Sherman

Earlier this year DOT put Inwood’s Sherman Avenue on a road diet, reducing the number of lanes for motor vehicles and adding bike lanes along the length of the street, from Broadway to 10th Avenue. That plan included a redesign of the intersection of Sherman at Broadway that now looks close to complete.

The most significant change is at the southeast corner. There, DOT converted a slip lane into pedestrian space using epoxy and gravel. Before, people trying to get to and from Broadway on the south side of Sherman had to cross both the slip lane and Elwood Street, which intersects Sherman a few feet east of Broadway. Now the slip lane crossing is gone, and drivers have a tighter right turn from Broadway onto Sherman, forcing them to slow down.

DOT also reversed the flow of traffic on Elwood from southward to northward, so people crossing the street don’t have to look over their shoulders for turning drivers.

The road diet created space for a concrete center island on Sherman, and DOT enlarged an existing concrete triangle island at the northeast corner of the intersection, further reducing crossing distances.

As of this morning the gravel epoxy surface covering the slip lane was in place, as was the raised center median, which will get two plantings. The triangle island was still surrounded by construction barrels, but there was fresh concrete and it appeared crews had also freshened up the tree pit.

There were seven serious injuries and two fatalities on Sherman Avenue from 2009 to 2013, according to DOT.